


Through the Mirror

by morganaDW (morgana07)



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Angsty Schmoop, Bottom Jared, Explicit Sexual Content, Fairy Jensen, First Time, Hurt Jared, Hurt Jared Padalecki, Hurt Jensen Ackles, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Mpreg, J2 AU, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Language, Mpreg, Not a death fic, Other: See Story Notes, Protective Jensen, Schmoop, Top Jensen Ackles, Virgin Jared
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-10
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-02-12 14:41:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 39,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2113791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgana07/pseuds/morganaDW
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jared's lived a full life. He's raised three kids basically alone since his husband's death. Now he's an old man facing his own mortality except that everything's not as it seems either for Jared or the husband he waits to return for him.</p><p>Faeries from the Valley believe in mating for life. Jensen made a promise and he means to see it through as he comes for the man that had been his lover, soul mate and best friend so despite years apart they can finally have eternity together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Mild language as well as explicit content in some later chapter. There is also minor violence. The Mpreg will be minor.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
> 
> Prompt By: cappy712
> 
> Beta'd By: cappy712
> 
> Author Note: This pushes me far into the AU spectrum of J2 AU, lol but it's still a love story with all the usual problems, angst, schmoop and yeah, a couple cliffhangers that I give to all my stories. 
> 
> It's almost complete so updates will come regularly and just trust me despite the first chapter this is not and will not be a death-fic. :) I hope you guys enjoy it and thanks to cappy712 for the prompt and for the beta work.

**Through the Mirror**

**Chapter One**

** Someplace in Coastal Maine, 2070: **

“Dad! Dad, be reasonable.”

“I think given that I just threw a book at that jackass that you and your sisters swear is a doctor that I am being reasonable, Josh. Now, hand me that journal.”

Jared Padalecki held his hand out for the weathered old book his oldest and only son handed him and once again smirked at the wrinkled skin and age spots that had finally over taken him.

At 80 years of age, he was beginning to wonder when the aging process would really hit him. Up until this last bout with pneumonia had hit him, Jared had still been healthy and as active as men half his age. He knew last year that this would finally be the year. He wouldn’t see his 81st birthday and that was actually fine by him.

Jared’s shoulder length dark hair had long since turned to silver. He’d lost some strength that he’d had in his youth but he was still 6’4 with broad shoulders that had carried so much for so long that now he was ready to let it go and move on.

“Dad, all Dr. Kingston wanted was to make you comfortable in the hospice or with Bree. He wasn’t suggesting you were frail,” Joshua Padalecki-Ackles blew out a frustrated breath as his father merely gave him a narrowed eyed look that he could recall from childhood. “Dad, he…he just wanted to make sure you were comfortable when you…when you…”

“Josh, I’ve known for months that I was dying soon,” Jared laid his hand over the journal’s cover to allow the bright sun that came in the open windows to hit off the gold band he still wore on his left hand. “If I’m gonna die then I want to do it where I’ve been happiest. I said I’d die at home and this is where I want to be.”

Josh was fighting tears as well as the urge to bang him head against a wall. He and his sisters had all had this conversation with their father once it became plain that this time his body had become too weak to fight the effects of a hard life and old age.

He dragged long fingers through hair that was shorter, lighter than Jared’s but then Josh knew he’d gotten his hair, eyes and facial features from his other father; a man that had died in a plane crash when Josh was barely 13 and his sisters 10 and 8. Of course, his Dad had never accepted that story and believed something else entirely.

“We get that you want to die here at home, Dad. It’s just this plan to die alone without letting me, Bree or Kaci stay with you as it happens that makes us worried,” he argued, noticing that his Dad had arranged family photos on the bed and scattered around the room when he picked up one of his father’s when he was still a baby. “Why would you want to spend your last moments alone?”

“I won’t be alone, Josh,” Jared replied, coughing as his chest tightened more from bronchitis. “Your father will be here by that time,” he smiled sadly into his son’s face, seeing so much of his husband there even after all these years apart. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

While Bree and Kaci took after Jared with darker hair and hazel eyes and dimpled smiles, Josh had taken after their father with hair that had once been blond but was now a darker blond with deep green eyes and more serious nature.

“Dad, I know you never believed that Dad died in that plane crash over in Ireland. I know what you said about him, about you and our line but…” Josh sighed, reminding himself that this wasn’t the time to upset the older man so he forced a smile. “I know you believe that he’ll come and that’s what matters. I just wish you’d let one of us stay with you.”

“You have other things to take care of. Bree has her law practice and Kaci would just cry so no. I’m fine here,” Jared tapped the journal. “When you come back in the morning, you make sure you read this so you’ll understand what’s happening and that no matter what else that Jen and I will be happy together again. This was meant to happen.”

“Yeah, alright, Dad,” Josh knew that he, his wife, his sisters and their husbands had all done what could be done for the stubborn man. Now all he could do was hope his father passed peacefully in his sleep but laid a small box beside his hand on the bed. “In case you need anything, just push this and someone will be here in no time. I…I…”

Jared looked up to smile at his son, motioning him closer to exchange a rare hug since while Jared was always more outgoing his boy had gotten this trait from his father as well since getting his husband to show affection at times was like pulling teeth.

“I love you too, Josh,” Jared grinned, suddenly tired. “I love your sisters and my grandkids just like I know your Dad if he could would tell you the same thing,” he laid a hand on the side of his son’s face. “He’s as proud of you as I am. Now, get going. This old man needs a nap before your Dad shows up and gets this show on the road.”

Josh had to smile because there was no fear of death in this strong man that had held it together even when his husband was killed, leaving him to raise three kids alone in a place and time that still looked down on Jared for not only being gay but also because he could give birth to children.

“I’ll be back in the morning, Dad,” he remarked from the door but saw that his father’s attention was on the old leather journal that had once belonged to his father. “Please, take care of him,” he whispered as he walked out of the two story home on the upper coast of Maine that had been home since before Bree was born.

Jared heard the front door open and close, telling him that finally he was alone or as alone as he ever was. He opened the soft worn leather of the journal to stare at a photo that reminded him of when he’d been young, innocent and so in the dark to who and what he was.

He’d been 24 when it had all changed. He’d been a bright, funny, friendly young man with a knack to learn things quickly and could fix or make nearly anything that needed fixed. He’d been out of college with several degrees by the time he hit 24 and had known it was time to move on.

Jared Tristan Padalecki had been born to loving parents in San Antonio, Texas. He was the middle son with an older brother and a younger sister. It had been a nearly perfect existence except something had always felt off to Jared.

He’d longed to find his soul mate, to find someone that he could share his life with and have the type of bond like his parents seemed to have. Jared had spent his teenage years floundering to find such a love, such a bond but despite several false starts that included nearly declaring his undying love for his very straight best friend he’d known by some inner feeling that his true love, the person that he was destined to meet hadn’t yet come into his life.

It had been by total accident and maybe some otherworldly influence that he’d literally fallen right at the feet of the person he’d spent nearly all his young life searching for.

Jared had known the moment he looked up into brilliant green eyes, met the curved smile of the ruggedly handsome man that had stepped from nowhere and not only saved his life but also helped to turn it upside down in so many ways.

The day he laid eyes on Jensen Ackles had been the day that Jared had known true love and for the next 14 years it had been nothing but love, learning, growing and making a life and family together.

Not everything had been smooth sailing of course but as Jared learned nothing was having comes easy, especially when the man you fall in love with reveals that not only isn’t he fully of your world but neither, fully, were you because as Jensen explained as simply as possible Jared’s father hadn’t exactly been honest about his bloodline.

Jared’s lips curved as he let those memories come as his body was wracked abruptly with pain from a bad coughing spell. He shivered suddenly and started to reach for a worn flannel jacket to wrap around him when he paused at the low sound of soft bells, the smell of fresh water, clean linen and lilacs and felt a warm hand touch his face.

“You thought I was crazy the night I told you what your father was, what I was and what that also made you.”

The warm, deep, husky voice that suddenly spoke from beside him made Jared’s heart beat faster as it always did when he heard it with his ears and not just in his head.

“Excuse me for a little disbelief. I’d just almost been killed by what I thought were crazy aliens who said I had to die in order to stop me from procreating with you…when I’d never even met you yet much less knew I could actually procreate anything,” Jared snorted, reaching up to lay his hand over the one he could still feel on his face.

Since the day the plane crashed in Ireland this wasn’t the first time that Jared had felt his husband’s touch or heard his voice. It was the first time in 42 years, when he reached to touch back that Jared could feel warm flesh instead of a soft flutter of power sent over a distance that spanned more than just time and space.

Opening his eyes, Jared felt the same warmth spread through him as it had the first time he’d opened his eyes to look into brilliant green eyes. “Jensen,” he whispered, throat tight with emotion as he took in the ruggedly handsome face, deep intense eyes and a slow smile that reminded him of the first and last time they’d been together physically. “Hey.”

“Hey, Jay,” Jensen Ackles smiled, allowing the power to settle as he sat on the edge of the bed that he’d once shared with this man to take in his husband, soul mate, lover and best friend. “You look good.”

While age didn’t have the same effect on this side of the veil as it did on the other and while Jensen still basically looked like he had 42 years earlier when he’d been 44 years old in standard mortal age. Still, he thought Jared was the most beautiful man to exist in either the world of man or the world of the Faerie; the world Jensen had come from and where Jared’s bloodline belonged to.

“So says the guy who still looks like he did the day you walked out of here to go home,” Jared snorted, stunned by the difference between them now and beginning to doubt if Jensen still would want to keep that promise or still felt the same given how Jared knew he’d aged over the years. “Jen…I…”

Soft warm lips touching his cut off what he started to say, just that light touch took away his doubts, replacing them with a warm glow and a longing for his husband’s touch.

“Still beautiful, Jay,” Jensen’s voice was low, deep with emotion when he spoke, lips hovering close to Jared’s as they shared their first real kiss in four decades.

It wasn’t a hot or passionate kiss like it once would’ve been but a slow deep longing kiss that spoke of their love, dedication and trust in not only one another but also a promise made so many years earlier; a promise to be together always.

“And I didn’t ‘go home’ when I left here that last day,” he corrected, smoothing his fingers back through hair that despite its silver color was still as thick and soft as the first day Jensen had ever touched it. “This house was home to me then and it’s what I still considered my home all these long years that we shared together yet so damn far apart. My home is where you are, Jared. You know how hard that choice to leave was for me and how close I came to saying the hell with it and remaining here with you and our children; forsaking my life as a Faerie and my birthright.”

Jared did know that. He’d known from day one that Jensen wouldn’t be able to stay with him, to spend their lives together normally for a long time because of his other responsibilities. However, that didn’t mean it was easy to let go or to convince the older man that he needed to go when the time came.

Just like it wasn’t easy now to fully let go of this life or their grown children but Jared clung to the knowledge that he and Jensen had raised three wonderful kids and now it was time to move on, to be together.

“I’m dying, Jen,” Jared murmured, afraid for the first time since he’d been told how long he had.

“This mortal side of you is dying, yes,” Jensen understood the fear. He hadn’t fully had time to explain it all to Jared and knew that in some small way that his open-minded husband had still doubted the stories of another world beyond this one until the first time Jensen had given him a small glimpse of where he came from and where, the Fae willing, they would spend eternity together. “The other side, the piece of you that is Faerie, is still strong and healthy. You’ll see and understand that soon, my love.”

Jared only nodded, touching the silk of Jensen’s shirt to keep him near when he started to move. “What happens now?” he asked curiously, noticing that his chest didn’t feel as tight as it had and the pain in old muscles seemed to be lessening. “I mean…” he blew out a breath in disgust. “I don’t know what I mean. This is still so odd so even living 80 years, seeing so much change happen in this world…never mind to me, I still feel like that unsure guy who fell at your feet that night.”

“Now you catch me up on things like how Josh and the girls are, how our grandkids are and if Chad ever actually got a girl,” Jensen smiled, moving so he could sit beside Jared on their bed with his back against the headboard; smiling as Jared shifted until his head was in Jensen’s lap to stare up at him.

“You know all those things, Jen. You saw the kids grow up and we talked almost every night,” Jared’s eyes slid to the long oval mirror that stood near the bed and noticed how the glass seemed to shimmer with rainbows. “I don’t think I would’ve survived all these years, especially right after you left, if I couldn’t have had any contact with you. I…missed you, Jensen.”

“I know and I missed you, Jay,” Jensen let his fingers stroke through soft silver hair, down Jared’s face to lift the chain he wore with an amulet. “I broke a lot of rules making that first contact but like I told the Council if they wanted me to assume my rightful place after the hell I went through just to get to the place where I could earn my full birthright then they’d let me have that much contact with my mate. You were so cute the first time I used the mirror to pierce the veil and talk with you.”

Jared rolled his eyes. “I’d just spent two weeks fighting to prove that I could be a good single father to three kids when the State wanted to take our kids and that I wasn’t a genetic anomaly. A talking mirror in my bedroom was not making it easy to convince myself that even with everything I’d come to believe with you that I wasn’t losing my mind, Jensen.”

“You never told me the State wanted to take the kids away from you after I was listed as deceased,” Jensen’s green eyes flashed in barely disguised anger that anyone would have threatened his family. “You were perfectly able to care for them. You had a job, I’d left you well off financially and you came from a stable family.”

“I never told you because I was afraid you’d come back and lose what you’d fought so hard to claim,” Jared lifted a hand to touch the twitching muscle in Jensen’s jaw. “It wasn’t popular for men to admit they could have babies so that was one side to it even if it’s become more acceptable these days to have the gene. They weren’t looking at the finances or that I was basically a genius who could do anything I wanted. They saw a guy who’d given birth three times to three healthy kids…plus…it was my brother who started the trouble with the State by filing a petition to have me listed mentally incompetent given that I believed my husband was a Faerie who came from some magic door.”

Jensen wasn’t sure if he wanted to be amused at the description or pissed off at others. It didn’t matter to him about the time since this happened. All he was hearing was that Jared had been threatened, his family had been threatened and that meant Jared had been scared and all because he’d chosen to honor his father’s wishes to return to the Valley and take his rightful place after his father had finally passed away.

“Jared,” he suddenly ached for the power to turn back time; to change the mistakes he’d made. “You should’ve told me. I would’ve come back for you. I told you that. I told you what was important to me was you, Josh, Bree and Kaci. I would’ve willingly given up my place and my powers to stay with you.”

“You came through that door because you were seeking something to help you so you could claim not only your Dad’s title, your birthright, but also your full power, Jensen. You were nearly killed and so was I. I accepted that once you left I’d raise our family alone until we could be together again,” Jared would never say it hasn’t been hard these last 42 years but he also wouldn’t have allowed Jensen to give up what was so vital to him. “It was hard that first couple years since the girls were so young but I made it cause I had you even in that little way. Dad finally stepped in to force my brother to back down and after a while, the State backed off too.

“I raised three great kids while doing things to help people. I watched them get married and have babies of their own. I loved you, missed you but took those quiet moments that we had together as best as I could. I don’t regret a damn thing from the night I met you or if I did it was that you missed out on so much of their lives,” he took Jensen’s hand to press his lips into the palm before touching the matching gold band his husband wore. “Do you regret my choice to stay behind?”

Jensen’s smile was soft, loving as his fingers brushed the hair out of his lover’s eyes to see too many years of worry still reflected there despite Jared’s words. “No. I knew when you became pregnant with Josh that if I had to leave you’d never leave him so when the time came that I had to make that choice my only regret was that I wasn’t strong enough to stay like I should’ve.

“We’d agreed that our children here would be raised mortal and only learn of their heritage when it was time. I regretted leaving you to raise them alone. I regretted that I couldn’t help you more than just offering support or advice through a damn mirror at times when I could see how you struggled. I loved you then and I love you now and I will love you through the time we will soon share,” he watched Jared’s eyes blink heavily. “We have time. You can close your eyes and rest if you want. I promise to still be here when you wake up.”

Jared didn’t want to sleep. He wanted to just soak in how handsome Jensen was and talk to him, touch him since while they could talk through the mirror or in other ways touching had been only through power and not with actual touch. If Jared had a choice between sleeping now or feeling Jensen’s hands on his face, brushing through his hair then he’d choose to stay awake but it seemed his body disagreed.

“How long until…it happens?” he asked with a yawn, fingers meshing with Jensen’s to feel the slight spark when their wedding bands touched.

“We have until the moon sets and the sun starts to rise,” Jensen replied, placing his hand flat in the center of Jared’s chest; feeling his heart beating but also the weakening breaths. “Rest, Jay. I’ll sit with you while you sleep.”

“Oh, that’ll be fun,” Jared mumbled, a bit of playful sarcasm coming out. “Didn’t we talk about you watching me sleep? Some people might consider it creepy…or boring.”

Jensen’s eyes brightened with mischief. “Should I tell you then how many nights I watched you sleep through the mirror and wished that I was still sharing this bed with you?” he teased, seeing a dimple appear as Jared smiled before drifting into a light sleep. “Sleep, Jared. Sleep without worry. I’ll take care of you and what needs finished.”

Once certain Jared was sleeping, Jensen let his head rest against the headboard to look around the bedroom that he’d last been in physically 42 years earlier. He noticed the changes since the home had been new but also noticed that the one thing that hadn’t ever changed was the photos on the wall of when he and Jared had met, when they married, when each of their three children were born as well as Jared’s college degrees. Nestled among the pictures was a hand drawn colored portrait of a meadow, a large stone cabin with a wraparound balcony surrounded by trees and a crystal clear lake.

Jensen had drawn the portrait after Jared had asked him to describe what his home back in the Valley looked like. He could remember Jared’s smile as he described what it was like and how amazed he’d been when he tried to explain that mortal thoughts of tiny little flying creatures with wings wasn’t always the correct way to describe all brands of Faerie.

Jensen looked out the open window to feel the breeze from the cool, crisp autumn air blow through to ruffle his dark blond hair that he’d allowed to grow a little long on top since leaving here to return to claim the throne of the Valley after his father’s passing.

Jensen had been born and raised on the other side of the Veil between the World and the Valley as his people called it. His family had long since ruled for many generations but as the ages worn on many of his kind had chosen to leave the Valley for life in the World.

Those Faeries who left, forsook their natural powers but still most of them stuck to the long made tradition of finding their one mate, as Faeries mated for life, and settling down to raise a family. They kept their abilities to learn quickly and tinker with things, very few who left ever returned.

As one from royal blood, Jensen had never planned to leave. He planned to stay, study in the arts that all Faeries studied, find his true mate and settle down to raise his own family, but when he neared his 30th year his life took a very drastic turn.

Moving a hand to bring the worn leather journal to him, Jensen saw that Jared had continued to write in it since he left it behind. He read the haphazard writing with a fond smile down at his sleeping husband. Jared might have gotten quite a few Faerie traits from his father’s bloodline but the scrolling, fancy writing hand was not one of those he’d learned quickly.

Jensen looked to the desk in the small room off the bedroom that had been his study to focus; bringing a pen that had also been left behind before but would now be packed with other things to his hand as a soft breeze opened the lined pages to the first blank page.

He thought of their children. Jensen could so easily picture them as babies but also as the grown adults with families of their own that, they were today. The pen tapped the paper as he considered his words. He knew that Jared had often tried to explain their heritage to them but in some ways, their children were of the very modern world and thus didn’t believe in things that couldn’t be seen or explained.

Of course considering his children had grown to be a lawyer, a doctor and a microbiologist, Jensen supposed belief in Faeries or magic might be hard for them to believe despite the beliefs that Jared had tried to instill in each of them.

Jensen began to write in a hand that was very different than Jared’s own so he hoped that at least would get their attention. “‘ _To Joshua, Breanna, and Kaci...my children, by the time you read this you’ll discover that your father is gone. No, his body will not be discovered, as you might fear in his weakening moments that he might have wondered into the water or to the woods where he liked to walk. His body will not be found as mine was not found after the plane I was in crashed. Do not fear for him because like he always said would happen when he reached his time, I came for him. I came to take him to a place beyond the rainbows, beyond the hills and mountains. I came back for your father like I promised him I would the day I left because Jared needed to stay to be a parent to you._

_“‘I won’t ask you to understand or believe. The beginning of this journal is my life. It will explain where I came from, what I am, also the bloodline that your father’s father came from. It is also your bloodline and that of your children. You are mortal but also of faerie blood. I hope one day you will understand and honor that as well as our memories. I will explain as best as I can how your father and I met, fell in love and while it destroyed me to leave him and you, I will explain why I had to leave you behind so many years ago to fulfill my destiny._

_“‘As you mourn, don’t let grief bury you because Jared and I will always be watching and loving you, your children and the children that will come. You three were miracles that brought life and joy to us but as Jared’s mortal side passes; he will find life once again in the Valley. I will love him and care for him as I swore I would. Read on if you will_.’”

Jensen lifted a small recent photo of Jared surrounded by their grown children and their families; he smiled with love and pride. He lifted the pen once more to begin to write. “‘ _My name is Jensen Ross Ackles. It is October 21 st 2070 and this is the story of my life and that of how I met and fell in love with the love of my life. It is the story of how Jared’s life will end and begin anew. This is our story…_’”

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**Through the Mirror**

**Chapter Two**

** Elsewhere, the Valley, 2014: **

“Excuse me? What in Finn’s name do you mean I have to leave the Valley to find my mate?”

Jensen Ackles stared at the grim faces in the room. Intense green eyes moved over faces of the Council who helped his father rule the Valley as they had generations of his family since before Jensen had even been born.

The Valley was a place beyond the normal veil of time and space. Some considered it a land of Faeries fluttered around of gossamer wings but Jensen merely rolled his eyes when he heard the mortal stories and what they considered Faeries.

Oh, he knew some distant cousins were the tiny fluttering ones like most mortals from the World believed but his kind of faerie looked like any normal man or woman.

They were born, they grew, they learned, they found their one true mate to settle and begin the cycle again. This was life in the Valley and had been for beyond time but now Jensen was being told the plan he’d made for his life needed to change.

“You’ve reached your 30th cycle, Jensen. Most of our kind has found his or her mate even before they reach 13 cycles but yet here you are the eldest son of the King with no mate at 30. If you don’t find one before the end of this cycle you’ll forfeit not only the throne but also your true power,” the head of the Council spoke grimly, dark eyes grim.

“Well, it’s not like I haven’t been trying to find a mate,” Jensen snorted, arms crossed with a look of defiance on his rugged narrow face while his leanly built body paced the throne room restlessly. “We’re not like mortals. We don’t just pick someone to settle for unless you plan to tell me that rule is changing too. Faeries mate for life and I will mate with my soul mate when I find him.”

“Her,” someone far down on the Council corrected automatically but the heir apparent merely shot his father a smirk.

“We’ve had this discussion. I don’t really go for females and there’s no rule in any of scrolls that says I can’t mate with a male if he is who my destined mate is,” Jensen had known since he was young that he wasn’t like his brothers in who he found attractive. “When has there been a time limit to either finding a mate or coming into my true power? No one ever said that before.”

King Lucian rubbed a hand over his face. He was well into his 200th cycle of life and was finally starting to grow weary. He’d lived a long, full, and satisfying life. His mate had passed on several moons ago but since all of his children were grown this wasn’t a problem for him.

All but his eldest had found mates to settle with but while Jensen’s inability to find a suitable mate was troublesome for personal reasons it was much more troublesome because it would mean several changes to the line of succession and for obvious reasons the current King did not want to see his second born son on the throne.

“Most of our kind has never had an issue locating a mate before so they automatically came into their power. Your hesitance or problem finding your chosen one is a rare thing and also…troublesome,” he spoke to his son, recognizing the tightening in his face and the flash of raw power the boy did have. “Jensen, your brother is too hotheaded to rule. He would see war and strife between our kind and others in the Valley rather than the peace that we’ve maintained with not only our own kind but other creatures as well as maintain the barrier to the World. You need to find your chosen mate and it looks like it might be time for you to look beyond our borders.”

“A mortal?” Jensen stopped short of sneering at the thought. “I thought you and the Council here were just griping about so many of our people leaving to go live beyond the veil. Now because you’re desperate for me to find a mate so I can still have claim to the throne whenever you step down you want me to go into the World to hopefully find one. You want to weaken the bloodline of the royal family if I mate with a human? A human who might not even be able to cross the Veil to return with me?” he stared at the faces in front of him. “Shit. You do expect me to do that.”

“Over the centuries many from our more powerful families have crossed to live in the mortal realm, Jensen,” his father said to him grimly, stepping from his throne to approach his son. “It is our hope that perhaps your destined mate, be it man or woman, will be from one of those and that the bloodline will still be strong enough to recognize a faerie bond. I know it’s not what you want or expected but…without your full power, without that bond your brother will not hesitate to issue a decree to strip you of your right to rule in my place. I’m sorry, Jensen.”

Sorry wasn’t doing much for Jensen as he stormed out of the throne room to stalk the halls of his family home before leaving to continue toward the home he’d built years ago for himself and his chosen mate.

Jensen might not agree with all of the old rules or traditions but he still agreed with the main one where his kind only mated once; they didn’t fool around or have affairs like other races did…like the younger ones wanted to do. In fact, to live in the Valley meant a faerie was loyal to his or her mate until death and then usually it was rare for one to bond a second time.

Jensen’s own parents had lived a full and happy life together before a rare sickness took his mother. He’d noticed how frail his father had started becoming since her passing so he worried that he might not find his own mate or come into the power needed to retain his claim to the throne but it still irked him to be told to leave, to go to the mortal realm in the hopes of finding what he couldn’t here.

“Maybe you just aren’t meant to find a mate or assume the throne, big brother. Maybe it’s the great spirits way of showing Father who his real successor should be.”

The mocking voice grated on Jensen’s nerves almost like it had since they were boys growing up in the huge home one the hill.

“Or maybe it’s because you believe it’s alright to settle for the first pretty faerie who came of age and gave you a second look, Eric. The only reason you haven’t been banished out of the Valley for breaking the only mating once rule is because people are afraid to anger our father,” Jensen turned to see his brother standing there with several friends.

The young ones in the Valley were growing wilder, more dissatisfied with rules and traditions. Other races had since begun to adopt more modern rules of conduct and there were those of Jensen’s kind who wanted that as well but so long as there was a strong King and the Council in charge this would never happen. If Jensen was replaced as heir to the throne then those odds increased in favor of the more radical ones.

“I did mate once. I just happen to believe that young faeries should be allowed to have some fun and not be bogged down by old traditions that no longer suit the time,” Eric Ackles sneered at his brother, looking back to his friends. “Father’s not young anymore and he’s getting sicker since mother passed on. Soon the council will have no choice but to name me his heir and successor since his pride and joy can’t find a mate and without that you won’t come into your full power to earn the throne or the peoples respect.”

Jensen stepped closer to glare into his younger brother’s smug face. “Father will never allow someone as brash and unruly as you to ever be named to throne, Eric,” he smirked as he added. “He’d rewrite the laws that would allow Katie to rule as Queen rather than name you his successor. I will find my mate in plenty of time.”

“You’re too stuck in the old ways, Jensen. The World outside the Veil will eat you up. It’s dangerous. You might not make it back,” Eric returned, glaring when his brother turned away from him. “If you go there and don’t come back or worse, if you find out that your so-called ‘mate’ has been killed you better learn to rot in the slum that mortality is, big brother! You and your kind won’t be welcome here when I take the throne!”

“I wouldn’t want any part in a place that was stupid enough to let you rule anything more than a litter of pups in the royal kennel, little brother,” Jensen returned, burying his anger and walking away.

It took a burst of concentration to take him from the royal house to the home he built for himself and his mate, away from the city proper.

Jensen enjoyed most of his family as well as the faeries who lived, worked, and visited the Valley but no one would ever call him open or overly friendly. He liked his privacy and had always hoped when he met his mate that he would have an open personality to balance Jensen’s at times closed off side.

Stepping into the large two story brick and stone cabin that he’d started to build on his 19th cycle, Jensen looked around the empty home to silently wonder what it would feel like with a family of his own living here. “Soon,” he murmured, confident that he would find the love of his life.

Jensen didn’t like being pushed into finding his mate all because he’d lose his right to the throne or his true powers if he didn’t. He wanted to find his love, the person he would spend his life with because it was meant to be but he was also a practical faerie and knew he could not allow Eric to gain control or else eons of tradition in the Valley would be destroyed.

As Jensen packed a small bag with clothes more fitting for the World he closed his eyes to consider what his dreams had always told him his chosen life mate would be like.

Some faeries were born bonded to their mates while others met them when they were still fluttering, learning to walk without the need of the small wings that all children were born with. Then there were those who dreamed of their chosen ones in full detail or just little scraps.

For Jensen he’d dreamed of soft hazel eyes flecked with green, blue and gold that lightened when his mate laughed. He’d dreamed of a wonderful laugh that was always happy, carefree and came with deep dimples. He’d never seen the full face that laugh, smile or eyes went to but Jensen knew he would know him the moment he saw him…it also wasn’t in doubt that his mate was a man.

“I will find my mate and I will bring him home,” he spoke to the home itself, slipping the strap of his bag over his shoulder to step back outside and offer a spell of protection that would prevent any other faerie from entering the cabin.

There were many gates and doors from the Valley to the World. It wasn’t forbidden to have contact but it was discouraged to remain or leave forever.

Jensen had last been over the border, through the veil when he was 16. He’d been a curious young faerie looking to find out fact from fiction from the stories others had told of the land beyond the veil so he was better prepared this time than the first.

He didn’t bother announcing his decision or giving a time that he’d return home. Jensen trusted that if he was needed his father, the council or one of his sisters would find a way to contact him. He just wanted to go and start his search.

Of all the ways to cross the veil Jensen preferred the door through the waterfall that was close to where he’d built his home. He closed his eyes to focus and as he walked through the water Jensen felt the soft tingle of power go through him as he crossed a boundary that only his people knew was present.

The door from his home led to a location deep in thick trees that easily gave way to his power when Jensen’s foot stepped on damp soil to allow his head and stomach to settle from the slight nausea that was a common aftereffect of traveling between the boundaries.

Jensen took a deep breath to smell the clean air of the woods, to smell the salt water of the nearby ocean and marveled at how alike and different this place was compared to his world.

The World was full of marvelous technology. His place had finally moved from oil or magic powered lamps to a form of what was known as electricity in this place. They’d had running water and indoor plumbing since before Jensen was born but it was the other things, like the devices that allowed communication without wires or reading without scrolls that he still marveled at and would like to one day bring to his people.

He’d long suspected that the devices had probably been invented by faeries who’d left the Valley or their descendants so Jensen knew it could be done. But he set that idea aside for much more important matters right then.

Stepping from the trees, Jensen shielded his eyes against the blinding sun to take in the farmhouse and barn that looked more worn than it had the last time he’d been to this spot; reminding him that time moved faster in some ways here than it did for his people.

Years might be the same but the effects of aging were different. People and things here aged more than Jensen and his world did.

“Well, I was wondering if you were going to show up again.”

The deep gruff voice that spoke from the side door of the house made Jensen’s lips curve as he recognized it instantly and took it as a greeting. “Jeff,” he turned to meet the dark eyes of the middle aged man who stepped from the house.

The last time Jensen had visited this place, Jeffrey Dean Morgan had been a younger man in his early 40’s. Now his age could be seen in the silver that graced his dark hair and trimmed beard. The grip of his hand was still sure and strong as he reached out to take the hand Jensen offered.

When the two had met Jensen had been 16 and had found the older mortal man attractive. He’d briefly wondered if this man who’d been his first mortal contact in the World might be his mate but it only took a day of talking with him, of allowing Jeff to show him around the area once he’d reassured him that legends of faeries and other worlds were more than fable or lore, and Jensen had known that while he’d found a friend that this man was not his chosen life mate.

“You were expecting me?” Jensen asked after they settled on the porch of Jeff’s family farm on the outskirts of a small coastal town in the state called Maine.

“Maybe not you per se but someone like you,” Jeff sipped a cup of strong black coffee while hiding his grin as he watched the younger man…faerie…he still wasn’t sure of a definition for Jensen and was too polite to ask, drink his coffee with more cream than coffee it seemed. “We’ve had some…weird things happening around here lately, ever since the new boy showed up in town about six months ago.”

Jensen sipped the drink that he knew was popular among mortals and guessed he could get used to it if he had to. He lifted his eyes up to watch his friend and noticed the concern on his weathered face. “What type of weird things?” he asked curiously.

“Lights in the woods, some weird sounds that can’t be traced, some smaller farm animals have gone missing only to be found dead in the woods,” Jeff replied, shrugging. “I know it doesn’t seem weird to you but this place is pretty standard and weird stuff doesn’t happen…except for full grown guys popping out of the woods.”

“Have…you seen others like me recently?” Jensen actually wasn’t discounting the things Jeff said were happening. His descriptions actually made sense but not in a way that should be happening here.

Jeff frowned a little and looked to be considering the question. “There have been a few more strangers popping up in town and in the surrounding farms than we’ve had in years,” he admitted, motioning Jensen to follow him to the barn. “At first I shrugged it off as a few of the older folk on farms west of here just imagining things but then I began to look closer and noticed that every new arrival looked to be around the same age and had the same attitude of everything and everyone was beneath them.

“They also talk to one another in some language that I’ve never heard and I’ve spent a lotta time in various ports around the world. I have no clue what language it is but it’s not English and it’s not even Gaelic since that’s what I thought at first,” Jeff saw the frowning deepening on Jensen’s ruggedly handsome face while he opened a small stall door in the barn. “It seemed like more of them showed up after Jared arrived in town.”

“Jared?” Jensen eyed the small motor that looked to be attached to a few wires. “Who’s Jared?”

“The new local whiz kid,” Jeff nodded to the motor. “He showed up a few months back with an old beat up car that shouldn’t even be running, a backpack and a smile that never dims. He’s got more college degrees than I have military commendations and could be anything from a lawyer, a doctor or a quantum physicist but yet he just says he’s…looking for something or someone.”

Jeff flipped a switch on the motor to show how lights came on in the barn as well as out in the chicken coop. “He can fix anything or if he can’t fix it he’ll whip something up to make it do what a person needs done. He doesn’t ask for payment in return and seems happy to cram those long legs he’s got in the back seat of that car to sleep.

“He avoids trouble, is always friendly but he seems to be the target of the others who started coming around more,” the older man glanced over to see Jensen’s eyes seemed to be glittering. “He doesn’t have the same vibe as you give off or like some of those others but when he’d working he seems to talk to himself without realizing it and…it’s the same kind of speech as those others use. He one of your kind?”

“He might be or it might be that he could be descended from one of us who left the Valley to live in your world,” Jensen couldn’t say why his heart had sped up or why his skin tingled suddenly. “Can you describe him? This Jared? What’s he look like?”

“Good looking kid,” Jeff began while they stepped out of the barn. “He’s about 6’4” or so with this long floppy dark hair and eyes that are hazel but when he laughs or smiles, which is all the time, it looks like his eyes are gold flecked and…Jensen? You really should probably breathe before you fall on your face,” he shook a shoulder that had gone still when Jensen’s face paled. “What’s wrong? You know this kid?”

Jensen didn’t but the sudden description had just made his palms sweat and his already fast heart beat even faster. He didn’t know the actual young man but he knew the description of the eyes and laugh. He knew those because he’d been dreaming of them for many cycles.

“Have these others…approached or bothered him?” he asked, suddenly concerned but couldn’t place the reason until something his brother had said about the odds of his mate being hurt or dead came back to him. “Where does he stay mostly, Jeff?”

“A couple of the newer arrivals have made it a point to hassle him but he’s managed to avoid anything more than a few bruises. He doesn’t seem to understand why they’re focused on him and that goes for the Sheriff and I since I’ve seen him offer them money but they just laugh and say it’s not his money they want but who he might be waiting for,” Jeff was now very certain that Jensen was back for more than just a casual visit. “Jensen, what the hell’s going on?”

“Where does he stay during the day?” Jensen’s tone had dropped, senses suddenly heightening as he stopped in mid-step to just stare out through the dense woods as if listening for something.

Glancing at his watch, Jeff considered. “Usually these days he’s taken a liking to the area of woods around that old mound that makes a patch of the hill leading to that old house. He sleeps in his car if it rains or under the stars if it’s clear outside. I asked him why when any number of people, myself included, have offered him a bed to sleep in,” he chuckled as he recalled the answer. “He usually just smiles shyly and says thanks but he likes to sleep so he can see the stars because it helps him think and dream about this soul mate he seems convinced he needs to find and…Jensen?”

Jensen suddenly knew he needed to find this person if only to meet him, to get a look at him. He was about to ask Jeff to drive him when he froze at a sound. He knew Jeff couldn’t hear it but he could and Jensen knew if the sound he was hearing was correct then he needed to move quickly because the situation had just changed dramatically.

“I need you to follow me,” he told his friend seriously, looking to see the confusion on Jeff’s face. “I can’t wait for you to drive me to this spot. They’ve found him and they will kill him before letting him meet me. I need to get there faster than I could if you drove me.”

“Whoa! Jensen, wait a second,” Jeff urged, hurrying after Jensen as he headed for the forest. “Follow you where? Who’s found who and why would anyone be killing someone just to stop you from meeting…Jared?” it began to sink in for the mortal. “Someone’s after Jared so he can’t meet you? Why?”

“Because I believe he might be who I needed to come back here to find, Jeff,” Jensen could now hear the other sounds, voices, but also fear and confusion and that seemed to spark his powers to life. “I believe this Jared might be my chosen mate; the one I’ve been waiting all my life to find but there are others who don’t want that meeting to happen so they’ve sent people, creatures back to find my mate…and kill him. I need to get to him first.”

As Jeff was trying to process that he also had to remember that Jensen might look and sound like any other guy but then those deep green eyes glittered a second before his whole body shimmered and vanished from sight he swore under his breath. “And I thought dealing with witches and leprechauns that one Solstice was confusing. Damn faerie’s gonna get himself killed and I don’t even know what weapon to pack,” he muttered, hurrying to grab his keys so he could make a fast drive up into the deeper forest.

A faerie’s power unless they’re at full strength diminished somewhat in the World depending on how much power they used at one time. Teleporting from place to place took a lot of power so Jensen expected to be dizzy and weak when he found himself at the base of a large steep hill that was part of an old mound.

Jeff had told him the locals believed it was an old Native American relic, a mound that the Indians had worshipped or perhaps even buried their dead under but now that he was closer, Jensen could feel the power radiating out of the old mound and knew that while it was old and certainly pre-dated the English settlers it also pre-dated even the Native American tribes that had once settled the area.

Jensen sighed as he held out a hand to feel the energy touch his palm and knew for sure that this was old magic. He was just settling himself to try to search out sounds or power, looking either for his possible mate or those who would seek to hurt the boy when he heard a loud noise that Jensen knew was a modern weapon as well as a low howl of something not from this side of the Veil.

“No, you will not hurt him,” he murmured, feeling an odd surge to his power that he’d never felt before but right then Jensen was too busy focusing on trying to locate his possible mate and those who hunted him.

A wave a panicked confusion hit him, telling Jensen that this boy had no idea what was happening or why he was being chased. He felt fear and pain so that also told him that someone had already hurt his mate and that just would not do.

Recalling what Jeff had said this boy’s name was, Jensen let his thoughts go out so that even if this was not his mate, his thoughts would still be heard. ‘ _Jared. Jared? Can you hear me? Where are you?_ ’

At first there was nothing but static and Jensen feared the boy’s fear or something else might keep his thoughts from getting through when he was suddenly knocked back a step by not only the clarity of the returning voice but also the emotions that came with it.

‘ _W-who…are you? Wh-what’s happening_?’

The voice he heard had a soft drawl that the faerie knew was from the state of Texas. It was also scared and that immediately put Jensen on the protective side of his power.

‘ _My name is Jensen, Jared. I’m…a friend_ ,’ Jensen hoped he was more but would focus on friendship for the moment. ‘ _I need you to tell me where you are or follow what you feel from me. I’ll help you stay safe from those looking to hurt you but first I need to know where you…_ ’ “Oh, shit,” this time Jensen spoke the words he’d learned from Jeff out loud.

It all seemed to happen at once. He felt the boy’s terror build, felt pain, heard sounds he should not hear on this side of the Veil all while looking up to near the top of the mound. Jensen only had a quick glance of a head, wide eyes that tore into his soul and then he heard a startled scream as a body fell over the side of the mound to slip, fall, and roll down dangerously though sharp rocks, long jagged branches.

Even before Jensen could move a hand to try to stop the rapid fall or protect the young man that was falling it was over. He watched with horror as the body, all long arms and legs from what he could see, hit the bottom of the mound and came to stop finally near where Jensen stood on the gravel road.

Jensen could feel darker power coming close. He knew those who had chased this boy would soon be on them but as he stood looking down, Jensen could hear two hearts beating and it took him a second of stunned silence before realizing that he was not only hearing his own heart but also that of the young man who was lying so still at his feet. “Jared?”

He heard a low groan, felt pain that he knew had to be this boy’s and caught a flash of gold and green flecked hazel eyes under fluttering lashes before Jensen’s attention shot up to see glowing red eyes, thick dark matted fur and sharp teeth along with three men that just a look told Jensen what they were and who’d sent them.

While three faeries, possibly with more power than he had currently, was a threat it was more the huge creature that lurked on the outside of the forests back home that concerned Jensen the most. The evil creature looked like a huge black dog but had the speed and quickness of a wolf with the strength of what mortals called a bear.

He’d seen it tear a lesser powered faeries to bloody pieces in the time it took for it to move and he could see by the bloody scratches along the boy’s arm that it had drawn his blood. The monster had tasted blood and now looked to be prepared to rip its prey to pieces.

Moving until he was between the limp form and the threats facing them, Jensen looked up to offer a slow, cocky smirk. He knew he didn’t have anywhere close to his full strength right then but if it came down to dying to protect this boy that he could feel from where he stood then that’s what he’d do.

“You want him, demon?” he spoke to the creature of most faerie’s nightmares, raising one hand out flat with the palm up while his other hand fisted; power beginning to build slowly as he beckoned to both dark monster and the others of his kind. “Then come and try to claim him. Come and face me,” Jensen invited and as the black shape lunged off the top of the mound with a howl of blood thirst he prayed to his ancestors to give him the power to protect this boy…his mate.

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Through the Mirror**

**Chapter Three**

What am I? Who am I?

These were two questions that Jared Padalecki had been asking for as long as he could recall. In fact, his mother often said they were his first full sentences.

Jared had grown up in San Antonio, Texas. He had a loving family. His parents loved each other and supported one another even when times might have seemed rocky. They loved Jared and his brother and sister equally and life had always seemed easy and nearly perfect for the middle child…except for one thing.

From the moment he was a toddler, Jared swore he could feel something was missing. There’d been something inside him that just felt empty and he couldn’t explain it or describe it when his concerned mother would ask what had upset her normally happy and cheerful child.

Growing up, Jared didn’t think he was odd or that unusual. It wasn’t until he got older, got higher in school that he began to realize that not all of his school friends could do the things that seemed so easy or natural for him.

Jared had been able to assemble his own toys or his little sister’s toys by the time he was four years old. He loved to just tinker with things or find out how they worked. By the time he was a teenager he was finding easier ways for things to work.

He loved learning and could pick up lessons or new things he saw in his father’s books quickly; retaining the details even months or years later.

Jared learned that his father could do the same thing while his older brother and younger sister couldn’t. He remembered his father saying they got their gifts from their mother while Jared took his gift of learning, tinkering, and happy nature from him.

As he got older, Jared also noticed that not all of his friends had parents like he did either. Some only had a single parent household while others were shuttled between mother and father or if they did have two parents it didn’t always seem like a happy place to be. It often gave Jared headaches if he visited one of his friends and the house felt wrong or unhappy.

Jared’s older brother Scott teased him by calling Jared weirdo or different when he’d come home sick or unhappy and saying his friend’s folks were fighting or pretending to be happy but Jared always could tell genuine feelings from fake ones.

His parents would just say to listen to his heart and take what he felt and move on. That it was just another gift that Jared had gotten from his father’s side of the family…a family that Jared had never met. When he asked about his father’s family and where they were from all his Dad would say was that he’d traveled a long way to meet his Mom.

It was a mystery that Jared had never solved but had learned to let go of years ago. He had a loving family and while something always felt out of place in his heart he loved them and planned to find his own one day.

It was finding that same close happy bond that his parents had to this day that seemed to be eluding him. At 6’4”, Jared had finally grown into his long arms and legs by the time he hit 16. He had a lot of friends and even a few steady girlfriends but nothing that felt like the bond his Mom and Dad seemed to have.

Jared was handsome, another trait his mother said he got from his Dad because his Dad and brother also shared the same good looks, hazel eyes and dark hair while his sister got their Mom’s petite frame and pale hair and eyes.

It was in High School that the always happy, cheerful, smiling and helpful teen began to realize that maybe girls weren’t his best bet as far as relationships went.

Oh, he attracted them. He was on the football and basketball teams so attracting the girls had never been a problem for Jared. As his best friend Chad liked to say, all Jared had to do usually was turn around and he had a half a dozen girls from cheerleaders on up falling at his big clumsy feet. Getting girls wasn’t a problem. It was just that Jared didn’t want a casual fling or hot sex like most of his teammates or even the girls were looking for.

Ever since he was old enough to understand about life and love, Jared knew he wanted a love like his parents had always had. He wanted the type of love that rocked his world and a lover that he could share forever with.

He tried to find that with each girl he dated but it never seemed to fit. He thought he’d come close with his longtime friend Sandy but after two months of dating her it still seemed more like it always had. He didn’t feel anything but awkward when they kissed and when she began to push for more in the way of physical intimacy Jared knew he had to break it off.

He loved Sandy like a sister but he just couldn’t connect like he thought true loves should. Jared had been glad they could still maintain a friendship and had in fact introduced her to the man she’d later marry, Tom Welling.

When his brother married the woman he’d been seeing for five years to settle down to start a family, Jared began to think that perhaps there was something wrong with him that he couldn’t find that one special person.

It was on the night of his High School graduation when his father took him aside to explain that there was no set timeframe in meeting true love. That it had taken him many years before meeting his perfect mate but it had been well worth the wait and he had no doubt that Jared would one day find his own because unlike others he’d said, Padaleckis only should marry once in a lifetime.

It was also on this night that Jared decided that he might be gay. He’d long since considered that a possibility and his parents had never discouraged his curiosity even if his brother did.

The night of graduation at a party Jared had one too many beers and decided to test the theory. He came away with two very certain answers: he was gay and his best friend was not.

“Dude, I love you like a brother and I’ll even help set you up with a cute guy if I think he’s good enough for you but Jaybird if you try that again you’ll be kissing my fist!” Chad Michael Murray had been Jared’s best friend since grade-school and even after he quit choking and spitting from the surprise drunken kiss was still his best friend. “Now write down what you’re looking for and we’ll put those drop dead looks and big sad puppy dog eyes to good use.”

Jared moved on to college with Chad on a football scholarship but soon learned that sports no longer held an interest so he dropped out of that program when offered a full scholarship just on his brains alone.

He thought he’d meet his soul mate at Texas A&M but despite some casual dates and several bad ones that nearly chased Jared back home, he focused on his studies and breezed through college easily and early. By 24 he’d graduated college with several degrees but had passed on his teachers’ suggestion of going for a Master’s degree in any number of fields because something inside Jared knew it was time to move on.

Jared actually enjoyed school. He enjoyed the campus and he enjoyed helping his teachers and fellow students in any way he could.

One semester he’d helped the maintenance department retool all the old equipment and created a better wireless way to test for smoke or carbon monoxide. He’d upgraded all the old computers to a faster operating system without the computer department having to buy new systems. He did all this while still maintaining his above 4.0 GPA and graduating top of his class but he passed his the spot to another student that Jared felt had earned the recognition.

Now he was on his own and seeking that one thing that had been missing all these years. His brother and sister-in-law were expecting their third child while his little sister was planning her own marriage to a great guy. Jared’s parents were still blissfully happy and enjoying their lives and grandchildren. Only Jared was less than happy with his life.

Oh, his basic life was fine. It was something deeper that seemed off so Jared had packed up an old beat-up car that he’d rebuilt last summer with Chad’s less than useful help, tossed his clothes in the back. He accepted some money from his father who seemed to understand his need to travel, to search for what had always been missing inside him.

Jared spent the next six months travelling from Texas toward the East Coast. He didn’t know where he was going or why he felt like he needed to travel in the direction he had chosen but it had felt right and he followed those feelings.

He’d stop every once in a while in a small town to refuel the car and himself. Jared might stay a few days if he found someone to help or he’d move on. Jared felt free and he felt right about what he was doing.

Jared had always been friendly. He loved people, he enjoyed meeting new ones and listening to them share their experiences with life. He’d always felt it was another way to learn how to grow into himself. He also hoped on one of these stops to find what still seemed to be calling to him.

All his life there was nothing that Jared kept from his family or close friends. He shared every thought, every dream or desire he had. He shared everything but one thing. He never shared or spoke about the dreams that he’d had since late childhood. Those he felt were for only him and they were the only things that seemed to relieve the aching need that so often filled him.

The dreams were never fully vivid or clear. All he ever saw mainly were intense green eyes, a soft dusting of freckles on high cheekbones and a slow smile that filled the loneliness inside him. He often heard a deep husky voice that Jared could tell could be gentle and loving while also cold as steel.

Since starting on his journey, Jared could also on some nights when he’d laid out under the stars to try to focus more on those eyes and could feel a warm touch on his face. A touch that told the Texan that he was dreaming of the person he needed to find so he kept driving until he hit a small coastal town in upper Maine.

Jared loved small towns. He often thought it was because he’d grown up in San Antonio surrounded by people and huge skyscrapers that now he was drawn to small towns with casual shops, little diners and a family atmosphere.

The moment he’d driven into this one it was like something just clicked inside Jared, telling him that this was where he needed to be; where he might find the person he’d been searching all his life for.

The town of Valley Way, Maine consisted of less than 1000 people and most of those were longtime residents whose own children and grandchildren had long since moved to bigger towns. It had a small gas station, a pier for fishing and lobster catching, a diner, some shops and a small police force to handle the few tourists that wandered in.

The streets were still lined with cobblestone, had old fashioned street lights. The town was surrounded by trees, forests, an old Indiana Mound with an abandoned house sitting back facing the clear water. It felt peaceful and almost like…home in a way that Jared couldn’t fully understand. He just accepted the moment he stepped from his car that he felt at peace.

From that first day the residents had welcomed the 6’4” Texas boy with a dimpled smile, and infectious laugh with open arms and open doors.

From the day he fixed the old broken down ice cream maker in the diner it seemed like the townspeople accepted Jared. He’d been welcomed easily, talked to like he’d been one of them for years and six months passed like a blur.

Jared hadn’t planned to stay in one spot more than a week but yet he’d been here for six months and it still felt good to him. Or it had before he began to notice the strangers that had started arriving.

Young men that gave him an odd feeling of unease and a few made him feel downright afraid when he was confronted one day outside the diner.

Normally being bullied didn’t worry Jared. He’d been bullied before as a kid before he hit his growth spurt. He’d been bullied in college once he dropped the football team because he was gay. He’d been bullied in a few towns because he was new but Jared had always handled himself and had never truly felt afraid.

The past few times groups of strangers had approached or just stared at him from across the street, he had to admit he felt fear but still refused to stay with any of the numerous people who’d offered him shelter.

The local police chief and Jeff Morgan had both told him what to do if they did more than approach or push him around some but it felt wrong to run from young men who were essentially only watching him. The one time one had shoved him, another had grabbed him to stay it wasn’t time; that they had no proof that this was who they needed to stop.

After that Jared just shrugged it off to a case of mistaken identity. He didn’t know the young men or the man he heard them whispering about when they thought no one was paying attention.

The language they spoke both confused and intrigued Jared because it was similar to one his father had taught him when he was small; a language that Jared still talked to himself in while he worked, fiddled, or remade things to help his new neighbors.

He didn’t understand all the words they used since it seemed like a different dialect of whatever language it was but still Jared knew they seemed to think they needed to stop someone from meeting him or vice versa.

In recent weeks he’d taken an interest in the old Mound that one of the old timers on the dock had told him had been what the town had been built around. The old man had regaled a fascinated Jared with tales of how Valley Way was built on a fault line, a veil like line between the world of mortals and a world of faerie like beings much different than the little ones with wings that were popular in stories.

Those that had crossed over had long since passed away or returned to their home but if one was sensitive enough then one could feel the power in the mound and in other places. It was also said that descendants of those faeries still existed and that some still passed the Veil to live as mortal.

Jared was also told of dark creatures that often crossed to haunt and hunt the thick deep woods and if he ever felt anything like that then he should run like the Devil himself was on his heels and pray to come across one of those who lived in the Valley as the other world was called.

He wasn’t sure he believed all the stories but it was a nice way to pass an afternoon as he could picture the eyes in his dream on the other side of some sort of wall; trickling water of a waterfall covering a door that no one knew existed and opened to a green meadow with a stone cabin and beautiful flowers.

In between helping others or fixing things for people, Jared liked to explore the woods and forests near the old mound. He liked to wonder the ground of the old 2 story home that faced the water. Both places and the woods beyond called to him like no other place had and Jared was certain even if he never found the person in his dreams that he had found a home.

That morning he’d been woken up sharply. It had been a clear cool night so Jared had slept out in his sleeping bag next to his car near the old house since he loved the view of the night sky over the water. He usually woke up easily but that morning it had felt like an electric jolt had shot through his nerves and deep green eyes filled his mind as Jared shot awake with a gasp and a name on his lips… “Jensen.”

Jared wasn’t sure who the name belonged to or why it filled his heart with warmth but he was very positive that he’d soon be meeting someone who would be very important to him.

That day was slow. It was as if the locals sensed something was coming. Old Mr. Mueller had advised Jared to stay in town, to not go to the mound or the old house because it was an off day but for Jared it felt like those were places he needed to be.

He loved walking the woods. It was almost as if he could feel little wings fluttering against his face or touching his hair and Jared wished he could draw as easily as his sister did but he had a hard time making anything but blueprints look better than a stick figure.

Jared actually wanted to walk the area that seemed to make his hair stand on end at times. Lately he’d felt a little uneasy in this section of the woods and had heard rumors of odd lights and sounds late at night. People believed those groups of young men were actually Satanic cultists and they were holding black masses deep in the woods but while Jared didn’t think they were in a cult he did have a distinct bad feeling these days about them.

He planned to visit the woods, make sure the old house hadn’t been broken into and then maybe pay a visit to Jeff Morgan before he lost the light but as Jared walked the path in the woods this afternoon he noticed a definite change.

These woods had always seemed light even with the heavy foliage of trees. They’d almost felt alive with warmth but on this day they were cold, damp and something made every nerve in Jared’s body scream to get the hell out and don’t look back.

Shaking that feeling aside, he walked deeper; touching an old tree when suddenly Jared stopped dead in his tracks because he could swear he felt the old bark shudder at his touch.

Jared had seen his father talk to trees, flowers, plants and animals as well as listen like he could hear his words being responded to but had chalked that up to his Dad’s own soft heart and love all of things. This time as he touched the tree again he thought he felt his own shiver and was beginning to think he was losing his mind when he thought he heard words, soft barely audible words in his head.

‘ _Run. Run, little fae, run before they find you_.’

“Huh? Before who finds me?” Jared blinked when he realized he was talking to a tree. “God. I am losing my mind. I think I hear trees talking to me now.

‘ _You hear us because your father could hear what mortal ears cannot. You hear now because the Prince will be coming. He looks for his bond mate as do you but those in these woods look to hurt you before he can find you. You must run._ ’

Running because a tree told him too was not something that Jared ever thought he’d do but then a high pitched howl that didn’t sound like any dog or wolf he’d ever heard tore through the woods and something inside him decided it might be a good idea to follow the advice of the old tree.

Jared had also run track for a short time but found he was a bit too clumsy for that. Now as he tried to regain his bearings to see which way was the best way to run, he heard branches rustling as if to point him. When the howl came again, closer this time, Jared took off.

“What the hell is making that noise?” he asked, trying to not run into a tree or accidentally run into what was chasing him.

‘ _A monster from beyond the Veil_ ,’ Jared heard in his head while also feeling something else in addition to his building fear; a warmth that he hadn’t ever felt before and switched his steps to move toward that feeling even though he had no idea where he was going.

“So you can already hear the voices of the trees. Impressive; it usually takes a half-blood more time or contact with a full-blood faerie to realize that gift. There is more to you than met the eye originally.”

Jared whirled in mid-step to nearly fall in his haste to both run and look, grabbing into a nearby branch to swallow the curse when he saw three of the young men that had been harassing him in town along with a very large, very ugly, very evil looking thing with fur, fangs and glowing red eyes.

“I…I don’t know who you think I am but…I’m…not who you’re looking for,” he heard his voice shake, gasping as the leader of this small group step forward and Jared saw pale eyes spark with energy like no normal human should’ve been able to do. “Oh my God.”

“You have no idea who your ‘God’ even is, little boy,” the man, right now Jared was holding off on what he thought these guys might be, sneered. “Your father forsook his power, his birthright to live in this mortal realm. You have no true idea of what you could’ve been and now you’ll never know because you need to die.”

“Huh? What?” Jared stared at the guy, feeling the warmth building in him but also a static as if something or someone wanted to block that warmth of comfort. “My Dad’s an architectural engineer from San Antonio, Texas. What the hell are you guys smokin’?”

A tall slender young man who looked about Jared’s age, but also much older in the face stepped forward with his hand wrapped in the shaggy matted fur to stare into Jared’s face; lips curling up in a sneer. “Your father came from beyond the Veil because he wanted to live as a mortal. He lost his power and never told you of your heritage as a Faerie but now that it’s plain what has drawn you to this place then your life is forfeit because what’s one mortal life of a half-blood compared to our own gaining the throne of the Valley.

“You’re looking for someone just like he’s looking for you. Well, before the so-called heir can cross the Veil much less find you to complete the bond that will give him access to his full power and the throne you’ll be a bloody torn mess in this backwater place,” he released the creature whose muscles could be seen rippling under matted bloody fur. “No faerie can outrun on of these. A little half-fae with no idea of his bloodline will easily be torn asunder.”

Jared’s heart hit his throat, backing away before he even realized what he was doing when a sharp crack like lightning was heard and the warmth that he’d been feeling was suddenly much stronger.

Seeing that the others felt it as well, Jared used their brief distraction to turn and run as fast as he could. “Shit!” he heard the sharp voice crack an order in some language and while he didn’t understand it the moment when Jared heard the howl and snarl on his heels he knew the creature had been turned loose.

The panic and confusion in him was huge. So huge that as he ran, as he tried to put as much distance between himself, the creature and his pursuers that Jared almost missed the voice in his head.

‘ _Jared. Jared? Can you hear me? Where are you?_ ’

A quick desperate look told Jared that there was no one close to him. Then he realized the voice, a deep husky voice that a piece of him knew he’d heard in his dreams at times, was in his head.

“W-who…are you? Wh-what’s happening?” he asked, no longer giving a damn if he was losing his mind. He was certain he had aliens chasing him with some Martian alien hybrid wolf-dog-thing looking to eat him.

‘ _My name is Jensen, Jared. I’m…a friend. I need you to tell me where you are or follow what you feel from me. I’ll help you stay safe from those looking to hurt you but first I need to know where you…_ ’ “Oh, shit.”

It took Jared a half a second to realize he’d heard the final two words spoken out loud and at a distance but before he could reason that he was too busy letting out a strangled, startled cry as he ran out of solid ground when the hill, the mound, sloped suddenly and all he could do was let go and pray he survived the fall to the ground below.

Jared could feel every rock, every branch he hit as his body bounced and rolled down the side of the mound until he finally came to shocking, jarring stop at the feet of someone that right then Jared’s spinning head and heaving stomach couldn’t begin to look at fully.

“Jared?” the voice that spoke his name was the same as he’d just been hearing in his head. It softened but still had a deep huskiness to it that told Jared that he was safe.

Struggling to open his eyes to at least slits, Jared felt pain throughout his body as he groaned and heard a growl that had fear building. He knew he couldn’t run anymore; he could barely move right then when he felt more than saw the man, whoever this was, step so he’d put himself between him and the giant alien monster.

Jared’s mouth wanted to move. He wanted to tell whoever this was to run, to save himself but as he was trying to find the breath to speak past the pain he was in, the fear that had a hand at his throat he felt that same warmth seeping through him again.

The warmth felt like a cocoon of safety surrounding him, shielding him from fear and harm. He struggled to look up only to wonder if all of this was one crazy dream because as Jared watched, his savior…he hoped he was at least…made a fist with one hand that began to spark with building power while motioning to the creature and the three aliens on the sloping mound.

“You want him, demon?” he heard the man speak without a trace of the fear or concern that something in Jared thought he could still feel under that strong steel like voice. “Then come and try to claim him. Come and face me.”

Jared’s fingers reached on instinct to touch the man’s pants leg; surprised when he heard him speak, think more to himself than anyone, including Jared.

“In Finn’s name, please grant me enough power to protect this boy…my mate.”

Fighting not to pass out from pain, Jared’s heart suddenly jumped into his throat as he felt something else; a feeling like he’d only imagined ever feeling even if he didn’t understand it. He knew somehow that this man, who had just put himself between Jared and a monster was who he’d been searching for…and they were about to get eaten as he heard the blood thirsty howl just as the creature jumped from the top of the slope right towards them both…

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

**Through the Mirror**

**Chapter Four**

The massive creature’s muscles bunched when it reared its head in a howl, jumping into the air and toward its intended prey and his protector.

It had managed a swipe of the fleeing boy so the creature knew what he tasted like. It had been many eons since one of its kind had tasted the blood of a half faerie that still sung with power like this boy’s did. It looked forward to clawing through the son of the Valley’s King to get to the blood it craved.

The black monster lips curled to show it’s bloody fangs, claws extending with the intent to swipe the faerie out of the way when suddenly a bright shower of blue and white light exploded and all the creature could do was give a pained, shocked scream of pain as it died.

Burning green eyes never left the lunging monster as Jensen felt his power build. He’d steadied and balanced himself to do his best to shield a barely conscious Jared from the attack but knew he stood little chance of defeating this thing in addition to the 3 faeries that he knew his brother had sent across the Veil.

“You will not touch him again,” he spoke in a low voice, feeling weak fingers touch his pants leg just as a sudden spark shot through his body and a wave of power stronger than anything Jensen had ever felt before shot from his hand to turn the snarling creature to dust. “That was new.”

Jensen felt a wave of dizziness hit him as the power diminished from his fingertips but could feel it coursing through his blood and once again felt his heart beat in time with the boy on the ground; realizing what was happening.

“Look…out!” a shaky weak voice called out in warning and Jensen’s attention shot back just in time to grab the arm that held a long shiny blade.

“Coming into your power won’t help if you die with him, Ackles,” the leader of this group growled, trying to twist the blade to stick it through Jensen’s heart while another dark faerie appeared with a blade held ready to attack the helpless Jared. “If you die here, Eric still gains the throne. Perhaps you can die with this useless mortal or…ugh!”

“I said you will not touch him, Pierce. That warning went for you, your buddies or that thing you brought over the boundary,” Jensen’s one hand caught the throat of the one attacking him while throwing out his other hand to send a wave of pure raw power to cause the other two attackers to scream in sudden pain and vanish.

A look told Jensen these were the only ones in the area but knew that could change since Jeff had said there were a lot of strangers in the town recently. He wanted this dealt with so he could get the boy to safety and check his wounds.

“If you’re smart you’ll return home and stop this insane idea of killing me or him because…” he looked at the power flickering on his fingers to back at the shocked face of one of his brother’s ‘friends’ and Jensen let a slow smirk curve over his lips. “It looks like Eric’s plan has failed and has had an unexpected result. My powers are growing even with only a slight contact. I might have skimmed through in the mandatory lessons on fighting but I know how to defend what is mine.

“I will kill you, my brother or any of his followers who try to hurt this boy now. You live to take that message back to Eric. Cross me again and I won’t be as generous,” Jensen growled lowly, jerking the blade away with the intent to send a mild blast of power into the attacker only to sigh when he vanished and it was just him and Jared alone on the road. “Jared!”

A wave of his hand took the blade away to a safe place for the moment as Jensen dropped to his knees to reach carefully to brush his fingers over Jared’s pale face. He felt fear, confusion, pain, but also a low amount of power that Jensen knew this boy didn’t even know he had.

“Jared? Can you hear me now? I need to get you someplace safe to see how badly you’re hurt,” Jensen heard a low moan and a gasp as he carefully eased the boy to his back, seeing long lashes fluttering over pale cheeks when another sound made him look up. He tensed out of a new instinctive need to protect but let out a breath when he recognized the old truck that came around the bend in the road. “Shhh, sleep now,” he whispered, willing the pain to ease with a small portion of power so the boy could sleep in peace.

Jensen knew he’d have his hands full when Jared woke up because not only did he have to explain any questions his mate would have about why he’d been attacked but he’d also have to find a way to convince a modern thinking mortal boy that they were actually soul mates and that he wasn’t as normal as Jared might have been led to believe.

“Do I even want to know what happened?” Jeff Morgan asked, stepping out of the truck to take a long look at the scene in front of him. “How bad’s he hurt and are you hurt?”

“He fell from the top of the mound and was scratched at least once by something that shouldn’t even have been able to cross the Veil,” Jensen slowly, carefully gathering Jared into his arms as if he was a child and not a fully grown 6’4” man but refused Jeff’s offer to help carry his mate to the truck. “He’s scared and confused. He’ll have questions that I hope I can answer but I also don’t know if my brother’s minions will make another try on either of us.”

“My place has plenty of room and it can be defended against…well whatever the hell might come after either of you,” Jeff looked over to see Jared looked to be pretty scratched and banged up but considering the kid had taken a huge tumble he was surprised he was alive or wasn’t broken bones all over. “Are you hurt, Jensen?” he asked again, noticing a line of blood on his friend’s face. “Your nose is bleeding a little.”

“Huh,” Jensen wiped that away while cradling Jared to his side, feeling power and emotion settling inside him while taking his first good look at the handsome face half covered by long dark soft hair. “I can feel him, Jeff.”

Jeff glanced over, brow wrinkled in confusion. “I’d be worried if you couldn’t,” he remarked but then watched as Jared murmured under his breath and Jensen’s eyes shined a brighter green as he moved a hand to soothe the younger man without words. “Define feel.”

“It usually takes a long time for bond mates, true life mates to form the type of link where feelings, emotions, thoughts can be felt on instinct but…I could feel him almost instantly. I…feel his heart and…that is rare especially for someone of half-faerie blood,” Jensen moved a hand to lay in the center of Jared’s chest, feeling the strong beat of his heart under his hand. “He’s who I’ve been looking for my entire life, Jeff. Now I just have to convince him of that.”

Jeff was still trying to figure out what was going on but put his questions on the back burner as he pulled up to his backdoor to help Jensen get Jared out of the truck and upstairs to one of the spare rooms.

By the time he’d parked and got back inside, Jensen could be heard muttering in a mixture of English and what Jeff assumed was his own tongue. Knowing that Jared was hurt in some way, the older man grabbed a First Aid kit, a basin of warm water and a bottle of whiskey on his way to the second floor.

Stepping into the bedroom, Jeff could see that Jared’s shirt had been removed to show bad gashes on his arm as well as lesser ones on his back as if those had been given in a glancing blow. There were also scratches on his arms and face along with bruises.

Jared’s jeans were tore at the knees from falling down the mound and probably through the woods but it was the bleeding gash on his arm that Jensen was focusing on.

“How bad?” Jeff asked, placing the basin of water close while he went to light a fire in the small fireplace in the room to get some heat as Jared could be seen shaking. “What got him?”

“They brought a black hound across. It’s a cross between a large dog and a wolf but with a high intelligence and also poisonous. It’s vicious, lethal, and hunted in the Valley because it will kill anything that crosses its path,” Jensen wiped the water down the gash, allowing a small portion of energy to pass into the wound to help both heal it and remove any possible poison that was left. “He’s lucky to have escaped from it in addition to the faeries my brother sent. Not even my people can escape from one of those usually.”

“Why’d they want the kid dead?” Jeff dug around to see if he had anything that might fit Jared to replace the dirty, torn and bloody clothes. “I mean, I know you gave me the whole speech of how your brand of faerie isn’t like those ones in the cartoons but it’s still kind of hard to picture assassins or evil dogs.”

Jensen lifted his head to offer a small smile. “Most of my kind; are kind, gentle, helpful faeries who want to live in peace. There are younger ones, ones who disagree with my father’s rules or the old traditions. They, like my brother, want change but the only way to start that would be to keep me from gaining the throne. If I don’t find my mate and come into my full power then by our laws I would no longer be able to claim the throne once my father passes,” he explained, cleaning blood and dirt away to get a better look at the boyishly handsome face that took his breath away.

“They came here looking to find my mate before I could and kill him. Jared…is my mate, Jeff. But he’s also so much more than that,” the faerie’s lips curved when a sleepy hand reached up as if searching for him on instinct. “I just don’t know how much he’ll believe but it’s important that I keep him safe.”

“When will it become moot for them to keep trying to kill him?” Jeff asked, concerned. He knew this was beyond his ex-Marine skills and hoped to keep the townspeople out of whatever this was.

“He just needs to accept me, believe what I tell him and trust me for the bond to officially form,” Jensen finished cleaning what he could right then to stare at his hands, still able to feel the stronger power inside him. “My body, my powers have already recognized him as my mate because I shouldn’t have been able to destroy the creature like I did. This is a very special young man,” he murmured more to himself than his friend, lifting his eyes. “I don’t want you in the middle of anything that might still come, Jeff. Is there someplace else I can take him?”

“He’ll probably want to go to that old house up past the mound but right now you both better stay put,” Jeff replied seriously, holding out a glass of whiskey. “Can you drink this?”

Jensen nodded, drinking the shot back with a hiss against the burn; eyes blurring for a second at the flavor and remembering something his great-grandmother used to make in the basement of the old family home back in the Valley, the stuff Jensen’s mother yelled about when she found the device. “He’ll need food when he wakes up.”

“Yeah, you stay up here with him and I’ll go start dinner,” Jeff got the feeling Jensen wanted to be alone and would give him the privacy he wanted. Before he left though he placed a hand on Jensen’s shoulder. “You still haven’t answered me if you’re alright, Jensen.”

“Ask me that after he wakes up, Jeff,” Jensen told him; accepting his future would depend on how well he explained a very strange situation to this young man.

Jensen finished cleaning the cuts and scrapes that he could see before carefully and without thinking of anything but Jared’s busted up knees removed torn and stained jeans to clean those and to be certain no bones had been broken in that fall when he looked up to feel his breath catch in his throat at the full picture this young man made.

“Jared,” he whispered, shaking his head and focusing on the task of dressing torn knees before slipping him into a pair of old pants made of soft material that Jeff had found. By the time he was done Jensen found his own eyes were getting heavy and guessed it was from the use of his powers as well as the increase in those powers.

He moved the basin of now cool water aside, closed the kit while choosing to sit on the edge of the bed beside Jared so he’d be close in case he woke up confused or in case anything happened. Jensen knew he was tired but only planned to rest his eyes for a moment before going to see if he could help Jeff. He didn’t plan to sleep.

Jeff had come back up to check on them and to ask if Jensen had anything in mind to eat when he paused in the door to see that Jensen seemed to have fallen asleep sitting with his back against the old scarred headboard, his hand resting lightly over the shoulder closest to him while Jared, in his sleep, had shifted more toward the man he could feel and seemed to trust on instinct.

Deciding to leave the two alone, Jeff went back to work on supper while he couldn’t help but worry for what was to come.

Slight pain, a rumbling belly and an odd feeling of comfort woke Jared slowly. He recalled in flashes the attack in the woods, the strangers along with some kind of animal that wanted to eat him. He also recalled the deep husky voice that spoke in his head…a voice along with eyes that Jared had known from his dreams.

Letting his body stay still, Jared pried one eye open to try to get a better idea of where he was and who might be with him when he felt gentle fingers carding through his hair. He lifted his eyes up to swallow thickly.

A piece of Jared had wondered if what he remembered had just been a bad dream except he could feel his arm aching where he’d been slashed, his body was sore from falling down that mound in his hurry to escape but he thought he’d be in more pain than he was.

Right then it was the ruggedly handsome man whose eyes were closed while long lashes touched lightly freckled cheeks that drew Jared’s attention. He could remember seeing this man protecting him, he’d heard his voice both in his head and with his own ears and knew in his heart that this was the man that he’d been dreaming of since childhood…this was the man that he’d been searching so many years for.

The aching longing, the need for something that had always been missing from Jared’s heart, his soul every morning when he woke up didn’t seem to be there this time. In fact, as he woke up fully to take in the rustic looking bedroom that told him he was at Jeff Morgan’s place, Jared realized he felt warm, safe and like this was where he belonged.

Carefully moving a hand up, he rested it in the center of the man’s chest…Jensen. He thought he’d heard him use that name, the very name in Jared’s dream but then he blinked in surprise when he swore he felt the heart beating under his hand in time with his own.

Jared shuddered as something warm passed through his body, like warm arms surrounding him with love and security. He knew he should be afraid and confused, he knew he should be alarmed at waking up with some strange man sitting on the bed with him, touching him but yet there was no fear in Jared for this man.

A spark of something seemed to pass between them when he moved his hand up to touch a lean face and Jared gasped when sharp green eyes suddenly opened to look down at him. “Oh. Umm. I’m…sorry,” he mumbled, feeling a power behind those eyes and thought of what else he thought he’d seen this man do. “I…I didn’t mean to wake you. I…”

“You didn’t,” Jensen guessed he had but wasn’t worried about that right then. He was more fascinated by the hazel eyes that were flecked with deep blues and gold currently staring at him without fear. “Hello, Jared.”

Expecting confusion or even the usual awkwardness that had always plagued him when meeting new people, especially drop dead handsome men like Jensen, Jared didn’t feel any of that. Instead he felt his heart jump at the deep husky tone of voice that said his name.

“You…you saved me,” Jared murmured, feeling fingers touch his face in a way that told him for sure that this was who he’d been waiting to find. “I…I’ve seen you in my dreams or…your eyes and voice at least,” he blushed suddenly at that admission; never admitting to his dreams before.

“Have you now?” Jensen hadn’t expected that, but it would explain their instant connection and also why the kid wasn’t freaking out so far with him. “How long have you dreamed of me?”

“Since I was little I guess but more so when I got older, when I really began to feel like something was missing,” Jared wished his mouth would shut up; it was embarrassing to admit things that he never told even his parents but yet he felt perfectly at ease telling them to a stranger. “Can…can I tell you something else?”

Jensen’s lips curved, palm cupping the side of Jared’s cheek to feel it warm but knew it wasn’t from fever. He adored this boy’s innocence as much as he did everything else about him. “I think it’s safe to say that you can tell me anything that you need or want to, Jared.”

“I…All my life I’ve felt like something’s been missing deep inside me. There was an empty hole or something that I could never fill or fix…until now,” Jared’s voice dropped lower, lashes lowering to cover his eyes as if afraid to see what Jensen’s face might show. “When I woke up now, I don’t feel that emptiness or whatever was missing. I…I feel complete. It’s like meeting you, was what I was meant to do and why I came here. Does that make sense?”

“In so many ways,” Jensen returned, his voice thick with emotions he wasn’t expecting to feel this soon. “I actually came here, to this place, looking for you, because there was something missing inside of me,” he smiled slowly, letting himself show more in his smile, in his voice than he normally would have with anyone else.

“You…came looking for me?” Jared blinked, confusion starting to set in. “Those…guys…they said that I needed to die before someone could meet me. What were they? Who were they? They didn’t look like the aliens I’ve seen on TV but there was no way that thing was a dog.”

“No, it wasn’t a dog like you know and…they weren’t aliens,” Jensen found it hard to keep a straight face on that one. He understood how it might have seemed that way to Jared, who wouldn’t have known what was happening to him or why. “This is the part that may confuse you, Jared. Do…do you remember anything they might have said to you?”

Jared hated to lose this closeness but guessed this might be better discussed if he was sitting up so with a sigh he pushed himself up; feeling a strong hand supporting his shoulder when his head swam a little. “I remember what they said. I remember even what the trees said and no, I’m not crazy. I heard the trees talking, telling me to run.”

“You heard the trees?” Jensen was stunned. “You are indeed a surprising young man, Jared,” he murmured, impressed with the power inside his mate even while the kid didn’t know he had any.

“You don’t think I’m crazy?” Jared looked at his arm to see the gash was there but not as bad as it should be. “Those guys said my Dad hadn’t told me stuff and called me a half-blood,” he lifted his eyes to see a flash on something reflected there. “What…am I, Jensen? What were they? What are…”

“What am I?” Jensen nodded, not upset by the innocent questions. He was actually surprised that Jared was this calm and hoped he stayed that way as he tried to explain what he could. “I and those who attacked you are what the mortal world would commonly call a faerie…minus the glitter and little wings,” he chose to focus on one kind of faerie as to not confuse Jared more than this already would. “We live in a place called The Valley which is kept apart from this place by a boundary that some still call the Veil.”

Jensen eased off the bed to move around the room restlessly, noticing the darkening sky and feeling it wasn’t a natural storm blowing in from the sea. “My people can visit this place for short periods or some choose to leave the Valley and settle here. They’ll forfeit their full power by remaining here forever but some choose to do that. They meet their life mate; they have children and usually don’t tell their children of their faerie blood or heritage…like your father didn’t tell you.”

“My Dad…” Jared frowned. “They said that my Dad didn’t tell me something but…this is real? My Dad’s like you? Wait…what’s a life mate?”

“Faerie’s by tradition mate for life,” Jensen explained, turning to go back to sit on the edge of the bed. “We meet out mate that we’re meant to spend our lives with and that’s it. We stay with them and never mess around. A true bond mate can be instantly felt…like we feel each other, but it’s more than just that. It’s a deep bond, a peacefulness and happiness that can’t be explained by simple words.”

Jared sat up on the edge of the bed, listening to Jensen and suddenly understanding. “My folks have always been so happy. They have a marriage, a love, that I always knew I wanted but couldn’t find…until…oh…”

“You’re my mate, Jared. You’re who I’ve been searching for all my life and by the way you’ve talked I think I’m who you’ve been searching for,” Jensen let his touch stay light when he took Jared’s hand to press their palms together. Feeling the spark that went between them and knowing by the amazed little smile that brought a dimple out that so did Jared. “It’s rare for someone of only half-faerie blood to be able to feel or hear the plants or animals but your father must have been very powerful and you gained a lot of that but it’s nothing to fear. I can help you learn to control whatever you do have so it doesn’t affect your life.”

“Uhh, yeah, hearing a tree or an animal suddenly talking to me might freak me out until I got used to it,” Jared agreed, looking down to hesitantly squeeze the hand holding his. “Why were they trying to hurt me?”

“They were trying to keep us from meeting,” Jensen was hesitant to explain this part but knew he needed to be honest. “Usually we meet our mates much sooner, but I guess because you were here while I was there we didn’t meet. My father is the current ruler of the Valley. I’m his first born son and technically his heir, but in our society I needed to be mated, bonded to my mate so I could come into my full power before I can officially be named heir.

“My brother wants to rule. He wants to be heir to the throne because he wants to change many of our rules and traditions. He hates me and wants me and my mate dead; so it was Eric that sent those faeries as well as that creature to kill you,” he slipped his other hand up to brush the unruly hair away from Jared’s face, watching his face closely for signs of fear, anger or confusion. He saw the confusion and also worry but so far nothing like he’d actually been expecting.

“Nice family, Jen,” Jared muttered without thinking, freezing in worry that he might have insulted the man…faerie…when something else dawned on him. “Wait. You’re Dad’s a king? So…does that make you like a Prince or something? I’m…I’m not sure I’m good enough to be a mate or something to someone important like…”

A gentle finger touched his lips to stop his sudden ramble of words. “You are perfect. You are the man I’ve been dreaming of most of my life and who, Fates willing, I will spend the rest of my life with,” Jensen murmured, leaning closer but resisting the urge to taste the soft plush looking lips that were so close that he could feel Jared’s breath ghosting over his face. “True, back in the Valley I’m considered royalty and as my mate you’d be given the respect as consort royal but we have many years before my father steps down or passes. We have time to get to know one another…if it’s your choice to accept me.”

That brought out the most confusion in Jared as his head tilted to the side, looking at Jensen curiously. “Accept you?” he asked with a rare frown. “As what?”

“In our culture it’s the mate who gets to choose whether or not to accept the faerie who’s basically asking for her or his hand. It’s rare but sometimes the bond is one-sided so because we only mate once it needs to be with the correct faerie or human,” Jensen told him, letting his thumb move gently over Jared’s wrist while his other hand stroked along his mate’s cheek. “Normally the connection is instantly there but there’s still a period of getting to know one another to be sure the link will form but…”

“But I already feel you. I heard you in my head, I can feel you in my heart,” Jared supposed he should be more cautious but with this he’d never felt more certain. “I woke up not feeling that empty loss of want for the first time in years. I woke up feeling content and…well, it might seem odd to say since we just met but I woke up feeling…” he drew off, suddenly feeling shy about admitting what he’d felt.

“What do you feel, Jared?” Jensen slipped his hand down to lift Jared’s face back up, his gaze soft to relieve the sudden fear of being made fun of he could feel coming off of Jared now. “Jay, tell me.”

The nickname made Jared look up with a bright smile. He’d never allowed anyone to call him that before because it hadn’t felt right. It had never sounded right until right that moment when Jensen spoke it. “Loved,” he finally responded with a soft drawl, looking away but felt a gentle brush of light power over his cheek like lips. “I…I do want to accept you as my mate, Jensen. I accept this…if you want me. I…I…I’ve loved you even before I met you. I’m yours if _you_ want _me_.”

Jensen felt a spark in his heart, felt a low thrum in his veins as his power hummed but all he was focused on was this uncertain young man in front of him. “Will you be my mate, Jared?” he asked, reaching a hand into a pocket to remove an item that he’d been carrying with him since he was 17 cycles. “Will you accept me as your mate; share this bond and our lives together? Will you accept me?”

Jared felt the wave of power that was flicking behind Jensen’s eyes. He also thought he could hear soft sounds like bells or chimes off in a distance as he looked at the medal like amulet that was placed in his hand. “Yes,” he said without thought, doubt, or hesitation. “I will…I do,” he closed his fingers around the medal to feel Jensen’s heart beating in time with his again. “Umm, does this life mate, bond thing…involve maybe kissing sometime soon?” he asked, cheeks turning a faint pink at how bold that sounded even to him. “I mean, it’s cool if it’s too soon since we just met and I’m not pushy or in a hurry or…mmhm…”

Gentle lips covering his in a slow deep kiss cut him off while fingers slid back, cupping the back of his neck to bring him closer to allow Jensen’s arm to wrap around to hold him.

In his 24 years, Jared had been kissed and he’d kissed others but from this moment on, he knew he’d never be kissed by anyone like Jensen was kissing him. He lost himself in the gentle passion he could feel building, moaning softly against plush full lips that never rushed him for more.

“I’m glad one of us isn’t pushy,” Jensen murmured between teasing kisses, letting his tongue trace Jared’s lips while his fingers caressed his neck; feeling shaking fingers curl into his shirt as Jared reacted to the kiss and the reaction in both his body and the powers that only Jensen could feel surrounding them in the room. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you from the second I laid eyes on you. The damn mutt from the dark side trying to eat you distracted me. I also didn’t want to push you too fast.”

“I’ve been waiting for you all my life, Jen. I don’t want to wait anymore,” Jared hoped he wasn’t sounding like some corny old movie when he worked up the guts to reach his hand up to touch Jensen’s face. “I want to be yours.”

Jensen fought the immediate urge to claim his mate right then. His body was heating even as his power surged to full life with Jared’s innocent words but he reined both in; this wasn’t the place to seal their bond.

Jeff’s house was good for comfort and food but not for what Jensen wanted for his first time with Jared. He just needed to convince his body and Jared’s roaming fingers of that.

“You _are_ mine, my heart,” he whispered, lips brushing over Jared’s again before sliding up to kiss his face. “You will be mine for a long time no matter what we face. I want to show you that, I want to tell you, show you so much but…this isn’t the place for that. Soon,” Jensen promised, kissing Jared’s temple. “Can you wait that much longer?”

“Yeah,” Jared nodded. When he returned the next kiss he let his lips part slightly in silent invitation and groaned when Jensen took him up on it.

Neither were aware of either the lights flickering around them or the nearby danger until a sudden loud howl was heard and Jared gasped as his arm flared in pain.

“Jay?” Jensen grabbed him before he pitched forward in unexpected pain as the sound was heard again. This time he felt the other power and closed his eyes to force the surge to power that wanted to come out in his need to protect back under control. “It’s okay. I promise that they cannot hurt you here. I won’t let anyone harm you.”

Jared was nodding, trying to get the pain under control as he felt Jensen’s thoughts touch his and the pain dimmed. A pounding was heard on the bedroom door as Jeff stuck his head in.

“I’ve got a yard full of assholes and I don’t think my shotgun or that stuff you left me before will be enough to stop ‘em,” he announced grimly, meeting Jensen’s grim eyes and seeing what the faerie wasn’t telling Jared. “They’re here for you this time, not him.”

“It will have been felt back through the Veil that I found my mate and that he’s accepted me. Eric’s only chance at the throne now would be my death and I think that’s what he’s planning,” Jensen carded his fingers back through Jared’s hair before kissing him deeply. He shared a silent thought before standing. “Stay in the house with Jeff, Jared. Don’t come out regardless of what you hear, see, or feel. This is my fight and I will protect you with my life if need be.”

“No! Jen, wait!” Jared tried to reach for him only to stare as his newfound boyfriend…mate vanished out of the bedroom and by the sudden snarls and growls from out in Jeff’s yard he knew where Jensen had gone. “No! He can’t do this alone, Jeff!”

Jeff knew that but he also knew this was beyond a simple ex-Marine and a young man who was just learning about himself. “Jared, we can’t help Jensen,” he told him grimly, swearing when the stubborn Texan tried to get to his feet only to drop to his knees with a scream of pain that wasn’t his own.

“ _Jensen_!”

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**Through the Mirror**

**Chapter Five**

Jensen realized the risk he was running when he teleported from inside the house to the yard, using a portion of power to shield the house so neither Jared nor Jeff could be harmed.

He recognized the one bully that he’d let go earlier as well as others from the Valley that he knew were friends with his brother. It wasn’t the assembled group of fully powered faeries that worried Jensen. He was worried about the three snarling, growling creatures, all of whom looked ready to rip him apart and probably would.

“Haven’t you broken enough laws by coming across the Veil with plans to do harm to a mortal without adding to your crimes by bringing those things across?” he asked, fingers tingling with power. “Jared is protected. He’s also accepted me as his mate, so that means I have found my true bond mate and my powers are slowly increasing.”

Jensen looked around him. He could tell there was something else close that he couldn’t see yet but the threat was ringing in his head. “I don’t like violence, especially against my own but I will protect him. None of you or those damned monsters will touch what is mine. You will not…argh!”

The scream couldn’t be stopped or muffled because the burning pain that slashed across his back came unexpectedly, taking Jensen to his knees; nausea ripping through him as he knew what blade had just cut him.

“It’s not your little mortal whore that I’m going to kill right now, big brother. Without you, he’s nothing but a half-blood with no powers to call his own except for the lame ability to hear plants and trees,” Eric Ackles’s sneering voice was heard as he stepped around from where he’d just literally stabbed Jensen in the back. “It might be fun to hear him scream since I think all half-bloods should be killed but right now…right now I’m going to take the distressing news of your death at the hands of a stray black mutt to Father so he can mourn and give me my place as his heir.”

Jensen was splitting his power between making certain he didn’t bleed out from the cut across his back, relieved the arrogant little prick had slashed rather than just stabbed or else he’d have been dead instantly. As it was the dagger used was like slow poison to faeries if cut by it, so he was in agony and trying to shield the bond but he’d heard Jared’s scream and knew it had been due to his injury.

“Father…the Council will know your hand in this, Eric,” he gritted, fisting a hand to bring the buried power up but the pain was making it hard to focus. “Sending your assassins through the Veil to kill Jared was one crime, bringing those creatures across was another but killing me? You will never gain the throne. They will see you in a cell first.”

“Perhaps or perhaps Father will be so heartbroken that he’ll die. The Council will have no choice but to name me his successor with you nothing but a chewed up bloody mess in your failed attempt to find your mate,” Eric jerked Jensen’s head back by grabbing a handful of hair, tapping the tip of the blade to his face as a sound was heard. “Maybe I’ll kill your whore after all,” he smirked as the front door slammed opened. “Or I have an in with a dark faerie in another section of the Valley that might be interested in him for other reasons.”

Jensen’s eyes went hard, gut clenching at the threat to Jared. “Jay! Stay inside!” he yelled; voice tight in pain but knew his warning was too late when he heard the panicked voice.

“Jensen!” Jared had finally gotten past the pain to break from Jeff Morgan. He didn’t know what he could do to help or if he could but he felt that it was important for him to try to help Jensen.

Bolting out the door, he saw Jensen on his knees with a huge bloody gash through the back of his shirt, through the skin on his back while a tall guy, faerie, with a resemblance to his mate stood close with a dagger in his hand.

“No! You leave him alone!” he hollered, starting to lunge without any thought to what the hell he could do against evil faeries with power enough to kill him probably when he was suddenly lifted up and slammed down hard in the yard.

“Eric! Leave him!” Jensen felt panic welling up as the three huge creatures were pawing at the ground as if eager to tear someone apart. “Jared’s not a threat to you! It’s me you hate! It’s me you have to destroy, not him. He’s just an innocent!”

“Oh, I know he’s useless, Jensen,” Eric sneered, gazing between his brother and Jared before snapping his fingers to the faeries holding back the dogs. “Let ‘em go. Let ‘em chew the mortal up while I play with my brother some.”

The moment the beasts were released they all lunged toward a helpless, stunned Jared whose terrified eyes met Jensen’s once before all he could see was black matted fur and razor sharp teeth; screaming.

“Jared!” Jensen’s terror and fury outweighed his own pain. Deep green eyes flashing in power that had so far been restrained but the moment he heard his mate scream, felt both terror and pain he let the full strength of that long buried, long denied, newly gifted power flow to the surface. “No!”

A wave of his hand, shot out a burst of blue energy flame that destroyed a nearby assassin. While the others all turned to jump him but quickly deduced that, their power was no match to Jensen’s full birthright. They also decided saving their own lives was more important than defending their friend much less controlling the creatures they brought with them as they ran away.

“Jay!” Jensen’s burning instinct was to run to Jared’s aid but as he started to turn he sensed his brother’s attack and barely got an arm up in time to block the dagger from stabbing him in the heart this time. “Call them off, Eric!” he growled, anger settling over him when he suddenly realized the snarling and growling had stopped and all was still.

“He was dead the moment they got to him, Jensen,” Eric shrugged, slashing the blade in an underhand stroke that he expected would rip his distraught brother’s belly open only to gasp when his throat was grabbed by a wave of power that shoved him into the side of the truck. “No…how…?”

Dark emotions were rare for any faerie of Jensen’s kind to feel. It was too easy to go down a path that ruined them and a faerie who did this, like his brother it seemed, lost all the goodness and compassion or need to be happy.

Jensen had always been able to balance his darker emotions, especially his anger and dislike, with the lighter emotions. As he shot a look over his shoulder to see only fur with no sight or sound of Jared all the light seemed to leave him.

“My power increased the moment I met Jared,” his voice was ice cold, low and harsh. Jensen’s eyes were sparking with power while his fist replaced his power to dig into his brother’s throat. “You had no right to hurt him, Eric! You wanted to stop me? You wanted to kill me? You always said I was too weak, too soft to rule like the Valley should be ruled? You just took the one good thing that I have ever wanted! You just killed an innocent boy whose only crime was being my mate and loving me. You wanted to tell Father that I was killed? Well, I think I’ll be telling him that about you!”

As Eric struggled suddenly, trying to bring the blade he’d dropped back to his hand or to defend himself he felt black rage pouring off his brother and knew he’d gone too far.

“Jen! Don’t! Don’t…kill him!”

Jensen’s mind was almost totally gone into his rage and grief when he jerked around at the voice, feeling his heart jump into his throat while his head began to pound with not only his emotions but also Jared’s as he locked eyes with his very much alive mate. “Jared? H-How? You…they…Jay?”

The power eased off enough that Eric wasn’t killed. It still kept him pinned as Jensen took two stumbling steps away; shock and relief now quickly taking over the rage in him as he fought the need to run and grab Jared into his arms but the three large creatures who were now sitting beside his mate still made him leery, and confused. “Can you move, Jay?” he asked, eyes on the creatures when he began to notice little differences.

“Yeah, I can,” Jared nodded, reaching up to lightly rub a hand over the thick dark fur of the closest creature before looking back to Jensen and seeing his fear. He also could feel the power building because his mate thought he was in danger. “They’re not gonna hurt us, Jen,” he told him, carefully pulling himself to his knees.

Jared’s body ached from being slammed to the ground and from having several large heavy beasts all land on him with full intent on ripping him to bloody pieces before something else happened that even now Jared wasn’t sure about.

“Did you know the Warbles used to be really smart forest animals to your people way, way back when?” he asked curiously. “An evil witch wanted the pack leader to kill for her but Warbles didn’t inheritably didn’t kill for sport. They killed for food or to protect their pack so they refused. She then put a spell on the pack and any future Warbles to become big scary monsters that only kills.”

Jensen frowned a little, watching as Jared climbed unsteadily to his feet; his hand on the head of the closest beast that seemed content to stay beside him, while the other two were curious about Jensen.

Ever since he’d been little, it had been drilled into his head to fear these creatures. He’d seen the effects of one of their attacks so he knew the risks they posed but for the first time ever he wasn’t feeling the evil dark energy pouring off of them.

In fact, as he watched these three, Jensen actually had the sense that they were more like giant puppies than faerie eating beasts; not that he wasn’t prepared to deal with at least one of them if he thought they were a threat to this amazing young man.

“Kill them!” Eric screamed, struggling against the power that held him pinned against Jeff’s truck even as the mortal was coming out the door to see what was happening. “They’re evil! They’ll kill all of us if given a chance! I…”

“They might kill you since they don’t like you,” Jared’s tone was clear that he didn’t care for Eric Ackles either as his gaze flicked to him. “You and your pals knew about the spell that kept these guys trapped. You and those like you used them for your own ends when you could’ve helped them. You’re keeping them trapped in a cage somewhere to use as sport and they’re puppies!”

Jensen shot his brother a look and knew just by his hateful expression that Jared was right. “It’s against the laws to keep any animal for sport,” he spoke lowly, motioning Jeff back until he had a better idea of the situation here when he glanced down at the feel of a cold wet nose nudging his hand.

“They’re monsters!” Eric screamed but tried to jerk back at the low growl that was heard. “Jensen! Kill them!”

“No, Jen,” Jared hurried to wrap his fingers around Jensen’s arm, needing to make him understand. “Please. They won’t hurt us and now, once they go back to where they come from the spell will break and all the Warbles will be good again. I promise. Look at ‘em,” he knelt down to let the three large beasts come to him and the one that had been sniffing Jensen’s hand flopped down to show its belly. “These are puppies. They didn’t like what they did but they couldn’t break the spell and couldn’t find anyone that wasn’t scared of them that could hear them.”

Jensen watched the beasts with Jared, feeling his mate’s thoughts and emotions plainly. He knelt down slowly to extend a hand. “How do you know all of this, Jay?” he asked quietly, still just wanting to pull the younger man into his arms to hold him. “I thought they killed you.”

“They were supposed to,” Jared replied rubbing the exposed belly like he would any of the dogs he’d had growing up while reassuring the other two that Jensen wouldn’t hurt them. “The other one, the one you did kill, it was older and had gone mad from too many years of abuse and blood sport. But these…these guys are actually only about…5 cycles in your world so they’re just puppies who miss their pack but he took them to keep them and breed more of them,” he bit his lip. “Can…can you help them?”

“Yes, if what you say is true about the Warbles being trapped in a spell that made them evil and if they’re being kept and bred then I can definitely find a way to help them or my father and his council will.” Jensen’s lips curved when a black tongue suddenly licked his hand and he noticed the sharp fangs didn’t look as long or as sharp. “Jay? What the hell happened?”

“When they attacked me, I knew I was going to die. I knew you’d never be able to get to me or stop them, so I instinctively put my hand up to try to at least keep my throat from being ripped out. As soon as I touched her, I could hear her voice in my head,” Jared moved closer to where Jensen knelt to rest his head on his shoulder. “It was like the trees in the woods and I could hear them. They didn’t want to hurt me or even you but didn’t know how to fight what had become instinct to them after so many generations.

“Once I got over the shock over hearing talking faerie wolf-dogs in my head. I tried talking back to them and this one,” he rubbed a hand down fur that slowly seemed to be lightning from matted black to a lighter gray color. “He told me about the witch, the spell and how they were used by others in your world, when even now, their kind would just prefer to be left alone so they didn’t have to hurt anyone. I didn’t know what I was doing but it was like my head did, cause the words came. Then the spell was over and now they’re puppies again, but with no one to take care of them cause everyone back there will still see them as bad and…”

Jensen was stunned speechless as he realized just what had happened. He’d known Jared had some power from his father’s faerie blood but he hadn’t come close to realizing just how special this boy really was. “You are a wonderful, amazing young man, Jared,” he told him, wrapping an arm around Jared’s shoulders to bring him fully into his arms to finally hold him tightly; relieved that Jared was safe and also at his happiness for what he thought was something as simple as breaking a witch’s spell.

“You have a huge heart that cares for everything you meet. It was that heart, in addition to a power that is rare even among my people that allowed you to break that spell and free the Warbles from any further torment,” he cupped Jared’s face gently between his palms, feeling his own wounds starting to remind him they were there now that he was calming down. “I loved you before and I will love you forever, my Jared,” Jensen’s lips brushed over Jared’s to feel the kiss returned before a paw tried to get between them with a sudden yip.

“They like you,” Jared laughed as the three faerie creatures who were now looking much smaller now that they were no longer cursed wanted attention. “They don’t like him,” he tensed subtly but then remembered Jensen’s back and felt his worry return. “Jen, you’re hurt. You’re…”

“Save the boy…save some worthless mutts but still die, big brother,” Eric sneered, feeling Jensen’s power beginning to wane where it had been holding him. “You’ve been bleeding and the dagger is like poison to our kind so…”

Jensen gritted his teeth as a sudden burst of pain hit him and he started to fall forward only to feel Jared’s arms go around him. “No, I’m…fine,” he tried to say between clenched teeth, knowing he needed to deal with his brother but not sure how to right then.

“You’re lying to him and to yourself,” Eric shot out, straining to get free with plans to kill both his brother and the not so average mortal he’d bonded with when suddenly a still large furry body was planted between them, with teeth showing as it snarled. “You can’t heal from that, Jensen. Even with your full power, you used too much defending him. You’ll be dead and then nothing will keep me from killing him and these useless freakish mutts or…”

The sudden appearance of a blade at his throat cut the threat off. “Oh, please. Carry on threatening not only the King’s heir and successor but his mate as well. I’ve been looking for an excuse to end your miserable existence for at least 20 cycles. I might actually get my chance.”

Jared tensed at the unexpected deep gravelly voice that spoke. He tried to move, to shield Jensen from another threat when he felt fingers squeeze his arm in reassurance while the pups eyed the new arrival before curling up in a protective line. “Jen?”

“He’s not a threat to you, Jay,” Jensen told him, recognizing the voice and slowly relaxing; letting Jared bear his weight some as he tried to focus on healing what he could. “Passing through by chance, Chris?” he asked.

“Your father and the Council sent me and some others once it became clear what was happening. The bells in the tower rang out so it was assumed that you’d met your mate but then some of your brother’s ‘friends’ confessed to the King about his plot to not only kill the boy but also you, so you get me,” Christian Kane’s sharp blue eyes looked with disgust on the disgraced faerie.

The black haired faerie had been best friends with the heir apparent since they were boys. He’d been a loyal member of the King’s guard since he was old enough to join. He mainly watched Jensen’s back and had been quick to offer to cross the Veil when it became known what the younger Ackles had planned.

Now he held his sword to the throat of a suddenly very still and silent Eric, while shooting a worried look across the yard to see his friend in the company of not only a tall young half-faerie with some very obvious power but three large but no longer menacing looking beasts.

“So, is this your mate?” Chris snapped something in their native tongue to two other faeries with him as he moved closer but kept a sharp eye on the creatures that normally should’ve been attacking by then.

“His name is Jared. Be nice and don’t scare him more than he is,” Jensen replied tightly, murmuring to Jared softly to offer his assurance that these faeries would not harm him, while trying to bury the pain he was in.

Chris knelt, but didn’t reach out like he might have normally, when he saw the way Jared tensed and how the three animals reacted to that tension; staring at his friend’s mate before swinging his gaze to Jensen. “How long has he been aware of his heritage?” he asked, stunned by the power he could feel in this boy but was confused to why Jensen was still hurt this bad. “Why hasn’t he healed you?”

“Heal? I can heal?” Jared blinked, not understanding that. “There more to this half-blood thing than talking trees and puppies, Jen?” he asked curiously, feeling Jensen’s tension as pain grew in his back and looked to see Jeff standing close by with a shotgun that both knew was useless. “Why’s he looking at me like I’m doing something wrong?”

Jensen shot his friend a warning look while offering a calming smile to his mate, smoothing his fingers over Jared’s wrinkled brow. “Chris thinks you’ve been aware of your father’s line longer than just a few hours and yeah, there’s more but I don’t know all that your powers give you, other than hearing plants and animals and breaking the spell to free the Warbles,” he heard a choked gasp and shot his friend a smirk. “Jared learned his father was more than human a short time ago, Chris. What power he uses is more intuitive than out of knowledge. He can’t heal me.”

“Maybe I can,” Jared argued, brain catching up with that was being said, to realize what the new guy meant and also that maybe helping his new furry friends was a bit more important than he’d first thought. “I’ll try anyway. You helped me before and if this life-mate, bond thing is going to work, I want to be able to give back when I can,” he caught Jensen’s hand when he saw it clenching in pain. “I love you. I want to help.”

“Jay, healing takes a lot of knowledge and power. It takes cycles…years of training to be able to do it…without hurting yourself,” Jensen replied, groaning as he tried to stand only to fall back into Jared’s arms. “I…I won’t let you risk pain or injury to yourself. I will heal but…it won’t be easy.”

“Jensen, the dagger cut is poisoning you,” Chris pointed out grimly. “You could die from that before your powers can heal you. If you return to the Valley then the Royal Healer can help you but…”

Jared went still at that because he hadn’t considered Jensen returning or how that affected him. “Will you…go back to your home?” he asked softly, managing to get Jensen to his feet while Jeff approached to help him. “I mean…you said most faeries only visit this side of that Veil or risk forfeiting their power like my Dad did. If you’re heir to a throne then…you have to go home. How will that…I mean…do I…”

“It was assumed, once Jensen found his mate that he’d return to the Valley with that mate to live,” Chris shrugged, hissing when something hit his shin. “Hey! I’m just answering him. Haven’t you told this kid anything?”

“I’ve been a little busy protecting him from my crazy brother to have much time to do anything but explain what his bloodline is and about being mates,” Jensen shot back in a low voice, feeling the turmoil in Jared and knowing this would be hard for him.

Even with the bond of being mates, it couldn’t be easy for the24-year old to face leaving the place he thought of as home to go to a world that would be nothing like this, where he’d know no one except Jensen.

“No, Jay,” he murmured lowly, turning to catch the lowered face in his hand to tip it back up. “Until my Father passes I don’t actually have to return to the Valley to live but we can discuss a short visit so maybe you could meet the sane part of my family. Anything else I can do through a portal…once things stop moving and…Chris, so long as you’re here you…protect what’s mine.”

“Jen!” Jared was quick to grab Jensen as his eyes suddenly went back in his head and he dropped. “He needs to lay down.”

“He needs to be healed,” Chris muttered but waved off the mortal who went to help this boy with Jensen while the three furry Warbles were all whining and yipping as if as distressed as Jared seemed to be. “Fine, laying him down is a good place to start. Here?”

Jeff started to nod, saying that they could take the injured Jensen into the house but suddenly Jared was staring off into the distance at something beyond the woods. “Jared? Are you hurt and are those dogs?”

“I’m bruised and still slightly hurt from earlier but Jen’s hurt worse. And these are Warble puppies,” Jared answered but his gaze wasn’t focused right then as if listening to something else. “I think they’re a cross between a dog, a wolf and a little bit of what we’d know as a bear but they’re really friendly now, Jeff.”

Chris started to offer a comment but kept his mouth shut given that he wasn’t being torn up. He gave those with him silent orders to remove Eric back to the Valley to face whatever charges the King and Council wanted to throw at him. He planned to stay here to see his friend through this injury one way or another.

“Jeff, can I borrow your truck?” Jared asked suddenly. “I need to take Jensen someplace else to help him heal and this doesn’t feel like the place. I need to take him to old house on the hill. There’s a spot there that seems to be calling and I think he can heal better there.”

Jeff Morgan frowned as he considered this. A look told him the other guy also wasn’t thrilled with this suggestion but he’d learned to trust Jared’s intuition, so he simply held out his keys. “Be careful,” he urged, glancing at the animals. “You taking them?”

“Oh, yeah. I’ll keep them until Jensen can arrange for them to go home and be safe like he promised,” Jared eyed Chris warily for a long moment. “You can come if you promise not to scare the puppies.”

“Oh, he’s going to be fun to deal with,” Chris muttered under his breath but finally nodded and helped Jared get Jensen into the front seat of the vehicle. He could only stare as all three Warbles jumped into the bed of the truck at a mere nod of the boy’s head and sat there with black tongues lolling. “Will this, whatever you did with these, carry over to the ones in the Valley?” he asked as he sat in the passenger seat, noticing that Jared made sure Jensen leaned against him and away from Chris; hiding his smirk at this.

“Sure, the spell broke so all of them back where you come from will be getting better,” Jared drove quickly but carefully, feeling Jensen’s heart beating with his own again and trying not to be too nervous or worried. “Jensen said he’d help the ones that others were keeping and hurting. Can…he?”

Chris considered this and guessed what he’d be doing when he went back across the Veil. “If Jensen said it then it’ll happen,” he assured Jared, looking as the truck slowed down when it got close to a large yard of a worn down mortal house that sat on a cliff overlooking blue water.

He sensed the old power even before stepping out of the stopped truck. The land was surrounded by a glen of trees that looked old and peaceful but it seemed to be the two-story home that was the center of whatever power he felt.

“Is…this your place?” he asked, reaching for Jensen only to jerk his hand back when he swore a small burst of electricity went through his fingers.

“Not yet, but I hope it will be sometime,” Jared eased Jensen into his arms to look around again. “The owner’s an old fisherman who lets me use it since I’m helping him fix it up. Usually I stay outside cause I like to sleep under the stars but out back there’s something really cool and it seems like that’s where whatever this is in my head is telling me to bring Jen.”

Chris kept his mouth shut about the nickname, even though it had stunned him when he first heard it. He’d seen Jensen punch lesser faeries for calling him anything but his full name. He shook his head as he followed Jared and three Warble puppies around the house to stop dead in his tracks at what he say.

“By Finn’s beard,” he whispered. He’d been expecting some quaint mortal back yard and while the back of the old home was quaint it was also stunning and also very magical looking.

There was a large round gazebo sitting over a good size brook of rippling water that led from the woods to a pond of fresh and clean water. Bushes with softly colored flowers surrounded it and Chris felt his breath catch because he could see the tiny fluttering wings hidden in the bushes and climbing vines on the gazebo.

“Was this here or did you do this?” he asked, keeping a respectful distance now as did the three pups as Jared gently placed Jensen on a padded chaise that was on the gazebo.

“It was here. I just cleaned it up and did some trimming and painting to make it look pretty,” Jared knelt beside the chaise to trace his fingers along Jensen’s face. “My Momma back in San Antonio had something like this that my Dad built she said when they got married. It seemed weird back then, but I always used to think I could see little pixies in the bushes that would play with me when I was a baby,” he glanced toward Chris. “I see them here too. Do you?”

“Yes,” Chris replied and slowly felt his doubts about this mortal easing away. “You are certainly more than most half faerie’s I’ve ever come across, Jared. Usually they can’t hear or feel anything but you not only do both but you have the power inside that’s allows you to be more intuitive than most skilled and trained healers in the Valley. Do you think you can help him heal?” he asked, concerned for Jensen but also for the danger an unskilled healing could have on this boy.

Jared wasn’t certain since he was basically going on what his heart said or what felt right. He just knew it felt right to bring Jensen to this place and smiled a little more when he saw some of the tension leaving Jensen’s body; pain easing away.

“I’m going to try but I don’t know what to do,” Jared admitted hesitantly, catching the hand that moved suddenly as if searching for him and feeling the warmth of Jensen’s palm when he touched him. “I…I don’t want to hurt him more than…wow. That’s…wild.”

Chris was about to demand to know what was wrong when he saw the soft glow that spread out from where Jared’s other hand was flat on Jensen’s chest to cover them both. “Jensen’s gonna have fun with this one; once this all sinks in, I’m sure,” he snorted, looking down to see six eyes all watching him. “So, I guess it’s just us until this healing thing runs its course. Do you guys…play?”

The noise of anything but Jensen’s heartbeat along with his own went unnoticed as Jared closed his eyes to let whatever was happening happen. He could see little lights flickering, hear soft music and feel light fluttering against his cheeks while in his mind’s eyes he could also see the gash on Jensen’s back closing slowly.

Jared focused on that. He focused on willing Jensen’s eyes to open again. Jared felt the grip on his hand tighten while also feeling a low pain in his chest and a sudden weakness that made him gasp. “J-Jensen…” he mumbled, wondering if it was normal after whatever he was doing to feel so disconnected with his own body.

“Jared…Jared, back the power off now. You’re giving up too much. You need to stop and let Jensen heal normally now.”

The words sounded far away and yet right next to him but Jared knew to listen. He let his body do what seemed natural to it and slowly felt the pain going away until he blinked his eyes clear; seeing deep green eyes looking back at him.

“Jen,” he whispered in relief, took weak to move from where he was kneeling on the gazebo floor. “Better?” he asked weakly, watching as Jensen brought the hand holding Jared’s to his lips to press a kiss against the palm.

“I will be soon,” Jensen assured him, words slightly heavier than normal due to his body’s natural healing state.

He’d come around at the feel of Jared’s hand in his and his other on his chest and could tell what was happening instantly. Jensen’s eyes had opened to see the glow that surrounded them as well as the power that surrounded this land.

He could feel the gash had closed; the poison was seeping away and knew his own healing would take over as he saw the strain on Jared’s pale face. Jensen thought he heard Chris’s voice speaking from somewhere in the distance telling his mate to back off some.

“You helped me heal past the danger point. I can heal the rest of the way with sleep,” Jensen carded his fingers through sweat soaked dark hair, brushing it back from pale features that felt cool to the touch and he realized his mate had pushed too hard and too far when hurt himself. “Are we safe here?” he asked, sensing they were even before he saw a nod and gave a gentle tug; urging his mate up on the chaise. “Lay with me and get your strength back, Jay. Sleep and heal.”

“You…need to heal,” Jared argued but let himself be helped up to sit on the edge of the chaise; not even fully aware of when Jensen’s hand brought him down until he was stretched out beside him on the large padded chaise lounge, his head on Jensen’s chest. “I think I overdid something, Jen. Feel so cold.”

“You used too much power that you don’t know how to use yet on top over being weak from earlier,” Jensen told him, body and mind longing for sleep but needing to be sure Jared would be okay before he slipped back to sleep. “Lay here; listen to my heart, to my thoughts and just rest. I’ll explain more when you wake up.”

Jared didn’t want to sleep but he slowly nodded, smiling at the feel of gentle fingers ghosting over his face and down his arm. “Watch the puppies?” he asked, worried about his new friends given that this wasn’t their home.

“Chris will care for them and he’ll keep us safe until I wake up,” Jensen assured him. “I love you, Jared,” he murmured, seeing the dimpled smile even though he could tell his mate was fast falling to sleep.

“Hmm, love you, Jensen,” Jared yawned, hearing the strong steady heartbeat under his ear as well as soft music from somewhere else. “Always and forever.”

Jensen waited until he knew Jared had fallen into his own restful sleep to close his own eyes after listening to see where Chris and the Warble pups were. Once he knew the area was safe he let his powers begin their natural healing process while hoping he could give Jared always and forever.

By the time Jared’s brain began to wake up he could hear voices that he knew weren’t being spoken aloud and not in English.

“Christian tells us you have found your life-mate and he’s of half-faerie blood with an amazing range of skills for someone with no knowledge of his line.”

“Yes, Father,” Jensen’s voice was low but Jared could tell it was more because he was sleeping than deference to speaking with his father. “Jared’s an amazing young man but he’ll live as a human because that’s what he knows. I will not ask him to change.”

“When you return to the Valley, his ways will have to learn to adjust to life here,” King Lucian Ackles spoke, voice distorted only slightly by the way he had to communicate with his eldest son. “Jensen…”

Jensen had woken up some time earlier. He’d felt weak but better than he had before. He’d argued with Chris over his friend returning to the Valley with the three pups who hadn’t wanted to leave Jared until Jensen assured them in his limited ability that they’d be kept safe, as would their pack. Then it came to finally speaking with his father through a magic viewing screen that Jensen could summon when needed.

“I’ll…return to allow you, the family to meet my mate and so Jared will be reassured that the pups are being cared for but…I will not return to live until I must take your place,” it was a hard decision for any faerie to make. However, Jensen had known what his would be from the first time he touched Jared, feeling the boy’s love and connection to this world. “I won’t ask that much change for him until it has to come.”

The King knew that would not be a popular choice with his Council but he also knew his son’s mind so it didn’t come as a shock. He would wait and hope once the newness of the bond, the mating wore off that his son and his mate would make their life in the Valley so the people can adjust to who will be their King and his mate.

“I also guess I’m supposed to keep these three rather large pups for you?” he’d been alarmed and then stunned when he’d first saw the Warble pups and realized the change that had come over not only these three but those in the wild.

“Until I can think of a way to bring them to Maine, yes,” Jensen knew his sisters probably had already bonded with the pups so he didn’t fear for them being abandoned. “Will you allow Chris’s guards to hunt down those who are keeping others in captivity so they can be free again?”

“Oh, Christian’s taking care of that now,” Lucian replied, seeing his son’s obvious distraction and smiling. “It will take our people time to understand the beasts are no longer a threat but it will be handled. Will you bring him to meet us soon?” he asked, interested in meeting the young man that his son had been looking for.

Jensen nodded, feeling Jared’s heartbeat change so he knew he was waking up. “Soon,” he agreed, reaching back to lay a hand in the center of Jared’s chest to soothe the nerves he woke up with. “Goodbye, Father.”

The portal closed instantly as Jensen turned to offer a smile upon seeing Jared’s eyes clear eyes opening. “Hey, Jay,” he murmured, leaning down to lightly kiss his mate. “Sit up slowly. You might still be weak. You used a lot more strength than I thought you had and there’s only so much I can give back right now.”

“Nah, I’m good,” Jared felt wobbly and sore but better than he thought he would. “We…stayed here?” he was glad that Jensen felt safe enough to remain here; noticing the pups were gone and feeling a little sad that he hadn’t gotten to say goodbye.

“This is a place of old power. A faerie built it so yeah, I chose to keep you here while you slept even after Jeff came to retrieve his truck and check on us,” Jensen sat close to wrap his arm around Jared, feeling him shake slightly and allowed a small portion of his power to pass between them to offer him warmth. “Chris took the pups back to the Valley where my sisters are spoiling them,” he’d felt Jared’s silent dismay over the loss of the Warble pups. “You’ll see them when you meet my family, Jay. I swear that they will be cared for and the others will be freed as well.”

“Thanks, Jen,” Jared leaned into the touch, feeling that something in the area felt different. “Why’s it feel…lighter here now?” he asked curiously, laughing as little lights danced in front of his face. “Jensen?”

Jensen took a slow deep breath while hoping he wasn’t rushing this too quickly. Standing, he extended a hand. “Come with me a minute?”

Before Chris had left, Jensen had taken the time to explore the glen of trees where the brook came from. He’d felt the power, recognizing it as ancient faerie magic so hadn’t felt threatened but needed to be certain it was safe for Jared as well.

What he’d found had surprised him as much as waking in the gazebo to see a family of pixies had taken over guarding the area while his friend slept covered in the pups. Now that Jared was awake, Jensen knew he needed to take him to the spot he’d found.

“How’d your Dad take it that your mate is a guy? And whatever I am?” Jared smiled as the feel of their fingers meshing as he allowed Jensen to lead him away from the gazebo, into the woods to follow the softly running water.

“My father knew that I’d always said my mate would be a man so that wasn’t a surprise,” Jensen glanced over to smile, reaching to tuck a stray strand of dark hair back behind Jared’s ear. “And what you are in addition to my mate and the man I love is a very special person that I will thank the stars each night for allowing me to meet you. You are very special, Jared. I hope to one day show you how special you are.”

“You already have just by loving me,” Jared told him, looking around to see that they were deeper than he’d ever gone before but was surprised that despite the thick foliage that it was so light and almost airy. “Jen? Where are we going?”

“How strong do you feel right now, Jared?” Jensen asked, seeing what he planned in his mind and hearing a little voice say that it would be made so. “I don’t want to rush you into anything. We’ve only just met and…”

Jared shook his head, feeling his heart speed up at what he felt from Jensen and what he thought might be happening. “I told you before that I felt like I already knew you, Jen. I…don’t have much experience since I didn’t actually do anything with anyone but maybe a few kisses and…oh…oh, Jensen.”

Stepping around a bend, Jared’s words stopped as he took in the sight that he swore couldn’t be real. The brook seemed like water from a spring fed it, forming a large crystal pool with a small waterfall. On the side, nestled in a small den of roses and other flowers sat a large canopy bed dusted with rose petals on silk sheets. “Jensen?”

“This land is magic, my love. It responds to the needs of those who visit and honor that power,” Jensen took a step to the bed, feeling the boy’s nervousness as well as his own as he fought to make this perfect. “The gazebo, the house, both have magic but this place…this is a little like where I come from and this is where I hope to make you my mate in all ways if you’re willing.”

Holding out a hand that he hoped was steadier than he felt, Jensen met Jared’s widening eyes. “Let me make love to you, Jared?” he asked thickly, emotions deep in his husky voice.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this update took so long. I lost my laptop to an update glitch last Saturday night and could not update via my Kindle. So here is chapter 6 with the final chapter to come tonight. Again, I am sooooo sorry.

**Through the Mirror**

**Chapter Six**

“Will you let me make love to you, Jared?”

The question was simple but the impact it had on Jared was huge. His heart was beating like crazy and all the nerves that he didn’t think he’d have felt like he had a thousand butterflies fluttering in his stomach.

He’d been waiting so many years for this moment that now he was scared; scared that he’d disappoint Jensen or that he’d fail in some way that he almost passed out before something in the calm smile of the man he’d loved all his life even before meeting him settled him enough that he could reach out to take the waiting hand.

“Yes,” Jared finally found his voice, hearing it tremble and tried to settle down but that was hard when he watched the deep green of Jensen’s eyes brighten; recognizing the want but also the love. “I…I…how different is faerie sex than human sex and…oh my God, I can’t believe I asked that,” he groaned, cheeks flaming wildly. “Jen, I’m…mmhm…”

Warm lips cut the words off while long fingers wrapped around the back of Jared’s neck to bring him closer to Jensen. “I know you’re scared, Jay. It’s natural for you to be. It’ll be my first time as well but if all the lessons faeries are taught are correct then the bond will help us get through this first time.”

“Faeries have sex-ed classes?” Jared had to fight back his disbelief to eye his mate shrewdly. “Are you making that up so I won’t be scared?”

Jensen laughed, arms sliding around Jared to bring him close enough that their chests bumped. “Faerie young are taught just like children are taught here…just different things,” he left a line of soft kisses along Jared’s jaw until he felt his mate begin to relax against him. “We’re taught more about the taking care of our mates in all aspects of our life together. Back in the older days, before even my great-grandfather ruled it was common for the female to be cared for totally so she could care for the family.”

“Uh-huh, we might have to discuss equal terms in this relationship, Jen,” Jared didn’t mind the whole taking care of thing so long as he could also take care of Jensen and have a say in what went on. “I don’t think I’m really into the whole stay at home while you go off and wage wars with ogres or stuff. Not that I want to go fight ogres but you get the idea.”

“Oh, the council members will just adore you,” Jensen loved Jared in all ways; including the fact that his mate didn’t want to be coddled and knew going in that Jared would want to still have a life of his own outside of their bond. “While it is still somewhat a custom for the one mate to stay at home to raise children I’m pretty certain you and I can come to a compromise of some sort to make you happy, Jared.”

The whole part of kids had never come into Jared’s head since he knew he was a guy but as his blood slowly heated from Jensen’s teasing kisses down his neck and playful fingers slipping under his shirt he thought he’d better verify something before they went too far.

“Ummm, kids?” he asked on a soft moan of pleasure, his own fingers wanting to feel Jensen’s skin but held back so he wouldn’t lose focus. “I…I know there have been talk about a gene that lets some guys carry and have kids but…Mom and Dad never wanted me to be tested even though they let my brother…I don’t know if…would that matter to you?” he hoped he made sense because he was slowly losing his higher brain functions.

Jensen gave a gentle push that landed Jared back on the bed with a laugh as he bounced once before settling on soft silk. “Your father would’ve been able to sense when his sons were born if they carried the gene that would let you conceive, Jay. That’s more than likely why he didn’t have you tested,” he told the younger man while trying not to be too upset with his mate’s father for hiding so much from Jared. “The odds of you being able to have children are high and while I’ll admit to wanting children to carry on my family line, especially once I succeed my father, if it’s not something you think you’d want then…we’ll find a compromise on that as well.”

It would not be a popular choice since as the future King he’d be expected to produce an heir to carry on the long tradition of an Ackles on the throne but Jensen would never force any mate of his to carry a child if it wasn’t a mutual decision.

Jared wasn’t sure right then. In less than a week he’d learned so much more about his life than he’d ever expected but he did know one thing as he looked up at Jensen. “Momma always said if something happened then it was meant to. So…if I happen to get pregnant then I guess I’m supposed to. Okay if we see what happens?” he asked quietly, scooting up the bed while his eyes stayed on Jensen.

“It’s more than okay, Jay,” Jensen agreed. He knew for as long as he lived that he’d never stop being amazed by this young man. “Tell me if anything confuses or scares you. If I know about it then I can help talk you through the nerves or answer any questions that come up.”

“I know we both have on way too many clothes for this unless you tell me that faeries make love without touching then we might be making one big compromise, Jen,” Jared’s dimples appeared as he smiled when Jensen’s lips curved in a slow sexy smile that had his heart jumping.

“Well…there is a way that some older faeries prefer to make love that’s actually more with magic,” Jensen admitted, smiling as he laughed when Jared narrowed his slowly darkening hazel eyes at him. He enjoyed teasing his mate but as Jensen’s eyes took in the long legs encased in jeans that was already showing Jared’s body’s interest in what they were doing he began to lose interest in teasing. “I happen to have been raised with the thought that touching is a lot more fun so with your permission that’s what I’d like us to do.”

Jared knew his face had probably just gone blank. Jensen had just asked for his permission to touch him? He knew it would take him years to get used to the odd habits Jensen had but guessed he had some habits that would take Jensen time to adjust to as well.

“I’ve wanted to feel you pretty much from the moment I woke up the first time in Jeff’s house,” he replied, sitting up so he could start to pull his shirt off only to feel the bed dip as Jensen knelt to do the deed himself. “Touch me, Jensen. Make love to me.”

“I’ll do that and so much more, Jay,” Jensen promised, proceeding to remove Jared’s shirt and then his own to see Jared’s eyes widen and then darken with desire. “I’ll make love with you now and every day of our life together. I will love you, cherish you and will always support you. You are and will forever be my life…my best friend, my mate…my husband.”

Jared had to swallow the lump in his throat as the emotions built up inside him. He was worried and nervous but the need to touch and be touched soon outweighed those feelings. “Jen…please. I don’t know what to do or what I should be doing. I just need to feel you.”

“Trust me to please you, Jared,” Jensen murmured, leaning forward to settle his lips over Jared’s in a deep kiss that he let build with heat slowly rather than kissing his mate with heat and passion all at once. “Trust me to give you this moment. Trust…”

“Jen, trusting you is not a question. I do trust you, I do love you but you’re gonna figure out soon that I was born and raised in Texas so my patience ain’t the best despite my folks best attempts to teach me to have some,” Jared warned, biting his lip to keep in a low groan as he dropped back to the bed when hot lips kissed their way down his neck to his chest. “I…oh my God…I love that you want to reassure me and all that but…Jensen, I need to you be doing a lot more and soon. Please?”

“Bossy and polite,” Jensen’s lips curved slowly as he licked a slow path down the center of Jared’s chest before finding a closing them over a hardening nub; enjoying the sounds his mate was giving without even realizing it. He also knew Jared was not aware of the soft lights that had begun to flicker in the trees from their combined power. “How do you feel about social functions?”

“Ask me that after you make love to me or I might strangle you in your sleep,” Jared growled, body growing hotter from just these little teasing touches and light kisses. “I’m not…God, I love your mouth…I’m not a diplomat but I guess I can handle ‘em. Kiss me?”

“Always,” Jensen moved so he was stretched out beside Jared, close enough to touch him and kiss him; letting him get used to being this close, to feeling his touch.

The kisses they shared quickly went from slow and light to hot and heavy; all of the lessons Jensen had been taught as a boy quickly forgotten in favor of following the dictates of his body and that of his suddenly very vocal mate.

Jared’s lips parted on a moan as Jensen’s hands traced over his bare chest. He welcomed Jensen’s tongue as it began to explore his mouth, arching up at the feel of fingers touching the waistband of his jeans. “Jen? Does this magic stuff work like in movies or books where you can snap your fingers and we’re both naked?” he’d blame the stupidity of the question on his nerves and building need.

“Faeries don’t use magic like that as a general rule and you have been watching way too many movies it seems,” Jensen chuckled but did file that image away for a later date. “Besides, it’s more fun this way since I like to watch you and touch you and…kiss you,” he slid the jeans down long legs, following them with his hands. “You’re beautiful, Jay.”

Jared blushed. He’d been told he was good looking since high school but still didn’t see himself like that. To him, Jensen was the gorgeous one but before he could say that Jared lost the ability for speech. “Whoa!”

Like every teenager Jared had jerked off plenty but the feel of Jensen’s fingers closing around his hardening cock was nothing like his own had felt like and the first touch made his hips arch into the touch.

“Bear in mind that most of those lessons I mentioned involved females so I’m making this part up as I go,” Jensen felt his own body hardening and heating as he watched Jared’s reaction to his touch, struggling not to rush through this. “Do you like this, Jay?”

“God, yes,” Jared groaned, feeling a warm breeze that smelled like lilacs and roses waft over them. “Wanna touch you, Jen. Need to feel you touching me.”

Straddling Jared’s legs, Jensen smiled and took his mate’s hand to bring him back up to where their chests touched. “Touch me, Jared,” he whispered against his ear, soothing the nerves he could feel in the younger man through their link. “Don’t think, just follow your heart.”

Following his heart had been what had led Jared here to this place, to Jensen so he decided to follow it again. Jared let the sounds of the brook, of the waterfall along with Jensen’s voice in his ear, in his head, soothe him while his hands began to trace over Jensen’s chest.

Jensen’s build was lean and rangy but Jared could feel the muscles in his arms, down his torso and knew this man had strength aside from mere ability or determination. He felt it in the hands that were gently touching him in return.

They touched each other slowly while kissing, things heating until Jared was certain he’d come just from Jensen’s touch and how his cock rubbed against the material of Jensen’s pants rubbing against him.

“Jen…don’t wanna come until…oh!” Jared gasped as he felt a gentle surge of warm power slide down his back like fingers and then felt it brush over his ass. “Jen!”

“You are so sensitive to touch,” Jensen’s voice was huskier as his emotions grew. He’d never felt his body react like it was to this young man and knew he needed to speed this up before neither of them made it much farther than just touching one another. “Can you roll over?”

Jared nodded, rolling to his stomach and allowing Jensen to help him get in a more comfortable position. He glanced back over his shoulder to watch Jensen’s hands touch and rub over his lower back. “Tell me there’s magic faerie lube or something?”

“Or something,” Jensen smiled soothingly; leaning up to kiss his mate’s well kissed lips. “As mates and since our bond has grown far faster than most links do your body will accept mind more easily but we do have something to soothe the way since this is our first time. I won’t hurt you, Jay,” he promised softly, resting his forehead against Jared’s for a moment to feel the boy’s nerves and soothing him.

Jared believed that. He’d seen plenty of porn so he knew what should happen. He just hoped it was the same with faeries or half-faeries since that’s all he knew.

He felt the bed move as Jensen eased off long enough to shed his pants and Jared felt his breath catch as he got his first full look at his mate’s lean body as well as he hardening, slick cock. “Oh…” he bit down hard on his tongue to keep what he was thinking from escaping and embarrassing them both more.

Jensen felt the thoughts, running his tongue over his teeth to keep from letting on and making a note to remind Jared that he could hear his thoughts as well as feel them. The small vial that had been waiting in the glen along with the canopy bed and rose petals moved to his hand.

“There are several types of oils that can be used for this but I didn’t specify so this one might be a little flowery smelling. Next time we’ll find something more neutral but I don’t want to just rely on some spit or precome or our bodies natural acceptance. I want to be sure you won’t be in more pain than I can shield you from,” he kissed Jared’s neck, across his shoulders to down his back while covering his finger in the oil. “Too strong?”

“Huh? I like the smell,” Jared thought it was a cross between lilacs and hyacinths and it took his mind back to perfume his mother used to wear…which was probably not an image he wanted right then. He quickly focused back to watching as Jensen’s fingertip began to circle the rim of his hole. “Umm.”

“Shh, just focus on me, on my thoughts and relax your body, Jay,” Jensen nearly groaned when he felt the tightness of Jared’s body when he allowed his finger to slip up past the rim. “You are so tight.”

There was burning and tightness but no serious pain. Jared could feel his muscles slowly starting to relax as if accepting Jensen’s touch. He let himself forget the nervous fear of pain or of being scared of disappointing Jensen to give himself over to the feelings now coming to him.

Jared had played with a toy or two in his life but he’d never felt anything like he was just from Jensen’s fingers that were slowly rubbing over his inner muscles while stretching him open. He was so lost in the feeling that Jared was unaware of when his hips began to move back against Jensen’s fingers as they moved in his ass.

“You’re doing so good, Jared. Just relax and let your heart feel mine. The bond between us is still growing. Once it reaches its peak your body will open for me more easily and faster,” Jensen told him, voice tight from fighting down his own urges and wondering just how much else those teachers back in the Valley forgot to teach them. “Tell me if it hurts, love.”

“There’s no pain, Jen. There’s some burning but it goes away before you move your finger again. Is this normal?” Jared asked, moaning as he swore something clicked between them and he could feel Jensen more than he had before. “Jensen?”

“It…it is but it normally takes a month or two once we make love the first time for the bond to complete the link so you can feel what you are,” Jensen felt the rush of Jared’s emotions mixing with his own as he felt tight muscles relaxing more, allowing him to try three fingers after two could scissor with ease. “It seems that everything between us is stronger than normal. How much longer can you hold on?”

“Get in me now, Jensen,” Jared didn’t think he could wait that much longer. He was positive of that when calloused fingertips barely brushed over something inside of him that had stars exploding in front of his eyes while his body moved back into Jensen to try to find that feeling again. “What…what was that and can you do it again?”

Jensen’s laugh was low and throaty, stretching up to catch Jared’s lips in a deep kiss that lingered as his tongue slipped between parted lips to explore and tease; using it as a distraction while he eased his fingers out to quickly cover his already slick cock with the oil to assure a smooth entry.

“That was my fingers hitting a very interesting spot inside of you and yes, I can definitely do it again,” he replied in between heated kisses that had Jared gasping and trying to urge him to hurry up with an impressive array of words that didn’t come close to English. “If you enjoy it now it’ll be better soon. This may feel tight so just stay relaxed.”

Jared’s thoughts were nearly mush. He was fairly certain he was relaxed until he felt the head of Jensen’s thick cock easing into his ass and tensed automatically but just as quickly felt his mate’s soft voice in his head, on his heart and relaxed again.

Growing up, making it through High School and college, Jared had heard all the stories about how painful a first time could be, especially between two guys that he still had those images as he felt Jensen’s cock slipping inside him.

There was tightness, some burning but like before it was gone even before he could acknowledge it. “Jen…” he moaned, feeling his own cock aching for release. He’d reached down to grasp the base once during the stretching to keep from coming and feared he’d come before Jensen was fully buried inside his ass. “Not…a girl, Jen. Get in me so we can both come.”

“I have a very bossy mate it seems,” Jensen smiled against the back of Jared’s neck, pulling out to give a solid roll of his hips that took him in fully and with a lot more ease than even he’d been expecting. “Jay?” he was quick to look for pain or discomfort in case he’s pushed too hard but only saw a dimpled smile, hazel eyes nearly black with want and felt their hearts connect. “Mine?”

“Yours,” Jared acknowledged without a doubt. This was who he’d been waiting all his life for and who he’d spend his life with now. “Always?”

“Forever,” Jensen confirmed, wrapping one arm around Jared’s chest to bring him back against him while giving his hips a roll that took his fully sheathed cock right up against that spot in his mate that he knew would have Jared reacting; not disappointed when he heard the low moan and felt the body in front of him move in reaction. “I love you, Jared,” he murmured against Jared’s ear, kissing along his jaw.

Jared was lost in the feelings he was experiencing now. It wasn’t all the physical feelings but also the emotional as he felt Jensen through the bond and could feel his mate’s heart and the depth of his love.

He was so lost in those feelings that he missed his body’s reaction to the fingers that wrapped around his cock to begin a slow but steady stroking until it felt like his whole body exploded with feeling, colored splashes of lights flooding his eyes as Jensen hit that spot again while running the tip of his finger along the vein on the backside of Jared’s cock and he came with a sudden shot.

“Jen!” Jared thought he saw a flash of multi-colored lights shooting up from the waterfall but shook that off for the moment as he moaned with deep pleasure at the feel of warmth filling him, knowing that Jensen had just reached his own climax as well. “Oh God,” he groaned, feeling his body trying to decide if it wanted to move into the hand that was still milking his cock or back to get that intense pleasure on his prostate as he heard Jensen murmuring in what Jared now knew was a faerie’s native tongue. “Jen…”

“Love you, Jared,” Jensen’s voice was raw when it spoke, hips thrusting gently to meet every move back that Jared made.

Jensen could feel their hearts and powers melding as he continued to focus on Jared’s pleasure while his own orgasm hit as hard as Jared’s was hitting him; filling his mate’s body with his come and also possibly his seed.

He heard Jared’s voice in his head, feeling him shudder as slowly the force of their dual climaxes rocked the younger man and Jensen tightened his arm a second before he caught a flash of white and Jared went limp against him; knocked out for a moment from the unexpected force of his orgasm.

Supporting them both wasn’t a problem. Jensen gave another few thrusts before feeling his body cooling off. “Shh, I’ve got you, Jay,” he murmured, a flash of power taking the soiled silk from Jared’s come away and gently laying them down on soft clean silk that still smelled of roses.

Jared murmured softly in complaint when Jensen eased out to draw him into his arms after a simple spell cleaned them of come and sweat; another sheet appearing to cover them as little lanterns in the trees began to light to supply soft lighting.

“I’m with you, love. We’ll stay here until you wake up and then decide what to do next,” Jensen smiled softly as Jared moved closer until he was cuddled against his lover’s side; head over Jensen’s heart as their palms touched.

Jared was sleepy, his body spent and boneless; fingers touching the amulet that Jensen wore that he knew would match the one his mate had given him. He lifted his head to meet the slow soft kiss, humming lowly as there was more sweetness than heat in this kiss. He could hear soft music from somewhere that seemed to help ease him back to sleep but before he did he thought of something.

“Jensen?” he yawned, feeling comfortable sleeping outside because he could feel either the area was safe or that Jensen’s power was keeping them safe.

“Hmm?” Jensen’s fingers were carding back through Jared’s hair, pressing his lips to his forehead. He sensed the shy curiosity in the young man before watching as his hand was moved down to cover a toned and flat stomach.

“When…I mean, will you be able to tell if or when I become pregnant?” Jared asked softly, cheeks pink at the idea but not upset at the thought like he figured he would be.

Jensen had felt the change when it happened but because he was curious he pressed his palm gently over Jared’s stomach to focus his power and was surprised when it didn’t take all that much to actually feel the first flutter of a very new life.

Stunned, Jensen looked into big soft eyes to smile. He took Jared’s hand, letting him feel what he could and watched the surprise then awe that entered his eyes.

“Is that…” Jared could only feel a soft flutter right then but as he focused he realized what that flutter was and felt his eyes sting. “Our first time?”

“Everything about us seems to push tradition it seems as it can sometimes take several times before a child is conceived,” Jensen wrapped his arms around Jared tightly, protectively as he now had two people to protect and care for. “I swear that it’ll be okay. You and the child will be well and loved.”

Jared knew that. He also knew this wouldn’t be easy but would face it and whatever came because he wouldn’t lose Jensen or their child. “Stay with us?” he asked as his eyes drooped.

Jensen knew they’d have to talk. He had things that would need to be explained but even know he was certain of one thing and that was any children they had here would be raised mortal. “For as long as I can, my heart,” he promised, seeing Jared’s eyes open to look at him; understanding passing between them. “It’ll all be okay and I will keep my promise to spend eternity with you…no matter how long it takes.”

“Love you, Jensen,” Jared murmured, falling to sleep with his hand held under Jensen’s over where their child was growing. “Always.”

** Present Day: Coastal Maine, 2070: **

“And forever,” Jensen returned as he stared at the story he’d just penned before looking at the sleeping face of his husband. He picked up the pen one more time. “‘ _I never stopped loving you guys or your father but responsibilities called me back to the Valley far sooner than either of us thought it would. I helped Jared as best as I could but never forgot the promises I made him that night. Now…as this side of him passes I will keep every last one of them._

_“‘We will never forget any of you. Jared will never forget the grandchildren he’s held; the ones I watched come into this world and grow up on his stories. Each of you has a piece of us inside you. Your bloodline will always be there and I hope you believe in magic enough to believe that this isn’t a trick and that it’s okay to let go. It’s okay to mourn but I hope you’ll also remember the good times we had together and that you had with Jared._

_“‘We love you now and will always love you and those that come from you in the future. The journal will be left for you to read, to decide what you believe. Other things will remain as well but a good many of your father’s things will seem to be missing to you. They’ll be cared for as he will be cared for. Take care of each other and never forget who you came from and the strength and pride that we gave each of you. Goodbye. Love, Dad._ ’”

Jensen slipped three crystals out of his pocket to lay them in indentions in the front of the journal. He’d placed one there each day Jared gave birth and had taken them with him so he’d have that little memory of his family as he ruled the Valley to the best of his ability. Now it was time to return them so their children would be able to sense them in the stones. He knew Jared would’ve prepared other things to remember Josh and his sisters.

Placing the journal and his pen on the nightstand, Jensen’s eyes moved around the bedroom to see what he wanted Jared to have once he passed and took care of that simply as he waited for the moon to begin to slowly set over the water; glad it was a clear night.

Jensen really would miss this house because in so many ways it would always be home to him. He had bought it for Jared shortly after their first night together and had spent the next several months making the arrangements that would allow him to live in the World for as long as his father sat on the throne.

Jeff had been such a big help in those early days given that Jensen really wasn’t used to remodeling a home the old fashioned way and by the second month of pregnancy Jared was sick most of the mornings so he couldn’t do much labor.

Noticing that Jared had a faded photo of his parents nearby he made sure that went as well while noticing no photos of Jared’s brother remained. Jensen hated that his husband had been forced to deal with bigotry and hate from his own line but had felt the dislike from Scott Padalecki the first time he traveled to Texas with his new husband to meet his family.

Jared had been nervous at the meeting and had put it off until finally Jensen reminded him that their love had been meant to be and there was nothing to be ashamed or scared of; that he’d protect both him and their unborn son and Jensen had done just that.

It had come as a shock for the family that Jared not only had gotten married in a simple civil ceremony but was also pregnant. Mrs. Padalecki had cried with surprise at first and then joy when she saw the happiness in Jared. Mr. Padalecki had been a bit more reserved but Jensen figured that was because he knew the older man knew who and what he was.

Jared’s sister had been friendly and welcoming while his brother had made a scene so now Jensen guessed he should’ve made certain when he left that nothing could fall back on Jared or allow him to be threatened like he had been by either the authorities or his own brother.

By the time he handled the preparations and all was done, he heard a soft voice say his name and could feel the weakness in his mate. “I told you I’d be here, my love,” Jensen smiled, smoothing his hand over Jared’s chest to feel the rattle in his lungs. “I left the kids an explanation so they won’t call out the military when they come in the morning to find your body gone.”

“I tried…to tell ‘em but it’s a little harder for them to believe,” Jared tried to push himself up but groaned. “Jen?”

“Think you’re strong enough to take a little walk with me?” Jensen knew he wasn’t but wouldn’t ever insult his husband by suggesting otherwise. “Through the woods to the glen?”

Jared’s lips twitched in a tired smile. He’d been wanting to walk there one last time but none of his kids would take him or let him go by himself so with Jensen’s question he nodded, extending a hand. “Help me up? I think I got stiffer while I slept. This old age crap ain’t what it’s cracked up to be.”

“You’re still as gorgeous as the day we met,” Jensen caught Jared’s arm to help him to his feet after he slipped his shoes on him; giving the room another look while letting his mind’s eye look through the house to tag several items for removal while this was handled. “Are you sure this is what you want to do, Jay?” he asked with concern, sensing the nervousness in his husband while he supported him down the steps and out the back door.

“Did you mean it when you promised forever?” Jared countered, memories taking him back to sitting in the gazebo with Jensen after Kaci was born while Josh and Bree played in the yard. “I…I know this isn’t what you bargained for, me getting old and I’ll…I’ll understand if you…huh?”

Firm but gentle fingers suddenly caught his jaw to hold it while deep green eyes locked with his. “I promised you that I would love you forever, that I’d give you eternity together and I meant it,” Jensen replied firmly, smoothing the tips of his fingers over Jared’s jaw to smile. “Trust me one more time, Jared.”

“I do trust you, Jensen,” Jared shivered, forgetting how easily he got cold now when a warm cloak was suddenly wrapped around him. “I guess this whole dying thing has me scared. I…I thought I was prepared but I don’t know what’s gonna happen and…I’m glad you came though.”

“I said I would,” Jensen was scared too but refused to show it. He knew how this should work out but it had never been done before so no one could tell him for certain if it would work like he thought it would or not. Jensen just didn’t plan on letting Jared know that. “I know staying in the house would probably be better for you but…I thought you’d enjoy this more.”

Jared would miss his house, the room he’d shared with Jensen but now he was just happy to be with his husband one more time. He was about to ask where they were going when he suddenly felt what breath he had catch in his chest. “Jen,” he whispered, stunned at what he saw.

Since Jensen left 42 years earlier there had been plenty of times after he’d settled their children in bed or if they were spending the night with friends that Jared would come to this spot; the little glen in the woods where the brook flowed from.

Jared had relived that first night so many times. He’d also spent many an afternoon pretending to feel Jensen with him during the hard times when he was fighting to keep his kids and his own freedom.

It had never looked like it had that evening but it had always been peaceful and beautiful. Now as he looked, he saw the lit lanterns in the trees that surrounded the canopy bed that was once again covered in rose petals.

He felt his eyes burn with tears at the emotions that suddenly swamped him. “I love you, Jensen,” he got out from a tight throat, sitting on the bed to hear the waterfall and the soft music again like he had that night. “No matter what happens now I can face it because we’re here,” he winced as he suddenly felt so tired, not aware of when his husband’s hand helped him move up so he could lay down. “Will…will it hurt, you think?”

“No, Jay. You’ll feel no pain,” Jensen would make certain of that, stretching out beside Jared to bring him into his arms like he’d always hold him; sensing the time was coming closer as he could see the beginning rays of the sun as it rose. “Just close your eyes and focus on my heartbeat. Listen to my thoughts, my voice and the music you hear. I swear that when you open your eyes again I will be the first thing you see.”

Jared thought of his parents. His mother had a stroke and passed away in her sleep and his father had followed a month later. He remembered asking Jensen if his father was a full-blooded faerie did he die because he gave up his powers. He could hear Jensen’s voice telling him that it had been the loss of his mate, the love of his life that had allowed Jared’s father to pass into the final light.

Now as he felt the aches and pains that had plagued his bones for several months begin to ease off, Jared closed his hand tightly around the one that held his. He heard Jensen’s deep husky voice telling him about the Valley beyond the Veil, about the stone cabin he’d built long ago and how he’d be with Jared always.

Opening his eyes one more time to look at Jensen’s face, Jared offered a full smile as he felt something deep inside him warm as the first rays of the morning sun broke through the trees to touch his face. “Can we go home now, Jen?” he asked in a weak voice, eyelids heavy; too heavy to stay open.

“Yes, my heart. We’re going to go home soon,” Jensen felt his own eyes tear as he watched his husband’s mortal side begin to leave him. “Hold onto my hand, Jay,” he whispered, pressing soft kisses over Jared’s face and lips to feel him respond before he felt Jared shudder; a weak smile on his lips as he went still.

“I love you, Jared Tristan Padalecki-Ackles,” he murmured, giving a final kiss while pressing his palm over Jared’s still heart to watch his face as he stood easily to lift his husband into his arms. “We’ll both miss this place and we might return to visit but now, my love, now it’s time to go home. Follow my voice, Jay. Follow it and open your eyes to…home.”

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 7

**Through the Mirror**

**Chapter Seven**

“Jared? Jay? Open your eyes for me.”

Jared Padalecki didn’t really want to open his eyes if he had a choice. He was happy in the warm peaceful dream that he’d been having until Jensen’s voice began intruding.

He’d dream that he and Jensen were making love in the glen like they had their first night together. Slowly as Jared’s thoughts began to reach for his husband’s voice he lifted a hand to slowly realize there was no stiffness, no pain in his joints like he’d been battling for years.

“J…Jensen?” his throat felt sore but his voice even sounded different then Jared last remembered hearing it before he…

Suddenly Jared’s eyes snapped open to groan as bright sun shining in a brilliantly blue sky blinded him. He yelped in surprise and quickly slammed an arm over his eyes until a shadow moved to block the bright sun and he knew it was Jensen even before he peeked.

As Jared slowly woke up fully he began to notice other things. He heard the sound of water running softly like in a stream as well as a softer but louder sound from a much stronger waterfall. The air was crisp, cool…clean with birds and other sounds that Jared couldn’t identify right them.

His one hand could feel damp, cool but soft grass under his no longer stiff with arthritis fingers and suddenly Jared remembered. He remembered knowing he was dying, he remembered Jensen coming like he’d always sworn his would.

Jared had spent the last six months preparing for the moment when he and his husband could be reunited. He still hadn’t been sure how it would happen or if it really would but now as he opened his eyes to stare into Jensen’s ruggedly handsome face; a face that age hadn’t really touched he felt his chest tighten with emotion.

“Hey, Jay,” Jensen greeted softly, green eyes bright with love and energy. “I was starting to get worried.”

“About what?” Jared asked, pushing himself up to an elbow to look around to see they were in a large meadow surrounded by trees, flowers, plants as well as waterfall and stream. Beyond that sat a beautiful two-story brick and stone cabin just like…just like Jensen had drawn him of his home in the Valley. “Where…are we?” he asked, looking down at his hands to blink and stare. “Jensen?”

“We’re home, Jay,” Jensen stood to extend a hand down to help Jared stand, supporting him with a hand on the small of his back and one on his shoulder to watch as realization could be seen setting in. “Look in the water,” he nodded to the stream close to them.

Holding his breath, Jared knelt back beside the stream to look in at his reflection and only Jensen’s strong arm wrapping around his shoulders kept him from falling into the water in his shock. “Oh my God,” he breathed, fingers touching his face to be sure what he was seeing. “I…I look…how?”

“Your mortal side passed away due to the natural aging that comes with it. If you hadn’t met me, if you hadn’t learned of your bloodline or if something would’ve happened to keep me from coming to you then that side would have passed fully into the light. Because you are my mate, of the strength of our bond, because I was there and because you accepted it I was able to keep a piece of that soul from crossing as we came through the Veil,” Jensen lightly kissed Jared’s brow, meeting his wide hazel eyes in the clear water to see dimples starting to show with Jared’s smile; a smile that still took Jensen’s breath away as it lit up the boyishly handsome face of his husband.

“Here age doesn’t have the same meaning and even if we keep the age you were there you’d still be considered young here so the Valley’s power itself has given you an appearance to match the age it feels you are,” he ran his fingers over Jared’s cheek, feeling his husband turn his face into his palm while covering Jensen’s hand with his own. “You’re probably 28 in appearance. Do you mind the change?”

“I was scared you’d change your mind because of how old I’d gotten so no, I don’t mind looking like I’m 28 again,” Jared shifted enough to face Jensen fully, dimples out in full force as he smiled. “This is real. I’m finally here with you.”

“Yeah, and now I’ll keep that promise about eternity because while we’ve left one life behind never to be forgotten, we’ve got the rest of our lives to start again,” Jensen replied in a voice deep and husky with emotion as he stood to bring Jared with him and into his arms to share a long deep kiss like he hadn’t been able to give his husband in over 40 years. “I’ve missed being able to touch you and kiss you, Jared,” he groaned against soft lips that reminded him of when things had been new and fresh, before their contact became limited to late night talks through a mirror and the times when they met in dreams.

Jared eagerly went into the strong arms that had always been there to support him and encourage him when things got hard, even if he couldn’t always feel them like he could now. “I’ve missed you too, Jensen,” he welcomed the deep kiss that slowly heated. “Missed feeling you touch me even casually, missed your kisses. I missed hearing your voice when you talk to yourself without realizing it. I just missed you, Jen.”

“I know, Jay,” Jensen whispered in between kisses, fingers carding back through long dark hair to curl it around them and give a tug that pulled Jared’s head back so Jensen’s lips could slide down the length of his neck until settling over the hollow of his throat. “You’re with me now and I’m never letting go this time. King or not, I’m never letting you go again.”

It was often easy to forget the reason that Jensen had to return here years ago. Right then Jared knew he should ask how this would change things or if he was expected to do anything but he suddenly had other thoughts that were much more important to him. Thoughts like his husband’s fingers moving down his body to slip between them, rubbing slowly over a part of Jared that he hadn’t really felt take in interest in stimuli in nearly 10 years.

“Jen…God, keep doing that and I’ll lose it like a teenager again,” Jared moaned, hips moving forward without realizing it as he swore his cock filled more even as the warm sound of Jensen’s laugh. “Jensen, unless you plan on taking me in the middle of a meadow you better back off or this place’s King might get caught doing something improper…oh my God!”

Jensen’s hand wrapped around Jared’s neck to pull him down into a hot kiss, tongue plunging in to get familiar again with Jared’s mouth while his hands did the same with his husband’s hard muscular body that the King of the Valley suddenly decided had too many clothes on.

“I’m always giving the Council something to bitch about but sex in a meadow even if it’s with my mate would probably raise a few eyebrows so I suppose we should take this inside,” Jensen sighed but his eyes shined with mischief that meant they would actually be trying that sometime in the future. “Let me take you inside our home, Jay?”

It still made Jared’s belly feel like there were butterflies in there whenever Jensen’s voice dropped to that low sexy tone that Hared had honestly never would have thought a faerie could have until he met his husband. It also still warmed him whenever Jensen said ‘our’ and meant it.

Since his throat was tight with emotion, Jared managed a nod; feeling warm fingers lace through his as Jensen led him around the stream by crossing a small bridge that put them on the cabin’s side of the water. “You…said you built this?” he asked, almost feeling as shy and nervous as he had all those years ago when they met.

“Yeah, I started when I was probably 17 or so. It was built for my family but it’s just been me living here and it felt so empty,” stepping onto the porch to bring Jared’s hand up to his lips to kiss the palm, Jensen laid a hand on the door knob. “After I came back when my father passed, tradition stated I live in the family home which is the royal manor and I have but I’ve also stayed here because I wanted to be here; especially on those nights where I spoke with you.”

“This…this feels like our home back there did with the same feeling of warmth,” Jared had loved this cabin from the first time Jensen spoke of it. “I was only here once right after we married…I won’t know all the rules or protocol of being married to the King. I’ll…make mistakes, Jen,” this is what scared Jared the most; making a mistake and embarrassing Jensen.

“I made plenty of mistakes when I was first crowned but I’ll help you. You’ll be fine. You’re a natural. You soften my rough edges and the people will love you,” Jensen assured him, adding softly. “I love you.”

“Remember you said that the first time I mess up in front of this council or at some fancy dinner or something,” Jared snorted but was then gasping in surprise. “Jensen! Put me down! I’m not exactly a light weight and I’m still taller than you!”

Jensen rolled his eyes at the last one since it was something their friends and even Chris Kane liked to tease him over but right then he was focusing on the laugh in Jared’s voice when he picked him up to step over the threshold of the cabin, closing the door with his boot to place his husband gently on his feet.

“When Kaci was five, we’d watched some movie where someone got married and the groom carried the bride over the threshold. She looked at me and asked if I’d carried you over the threshold when we got married and I realized I’d cheated you out of something that our daughter seemed to think was very vital,” Jensen’s smile was slow, seductive with just a hint of mischief. “Now, before I show you around, help get you settled and all the responsible stuff I should be doing I believe there’s one other thing I’ve been cheating you out of.”

“Oh yeah?” Jared raised an eyebrow curiously. “What’s that?” he asked with a teasing grin, surprised how easy it was for them to fall back into familiar patterns.

He was trying to look everywhere at once when suddenly he felt the familiar warmth of Jensen’s power wrapping around him and before Jared could blink he went from the huge open living room area to a large cozily furnished bedroom with a huge heavy wooden bed that looked elegantly hand carved; covered in deep blue covers and pillows that reminded Jared of their bedroom back in the World.

“Ummm, didn’t I just die? Why would I be ready to sleep even if it is with you?” Jared did want that but he also knew there was probably a royal protocol for the King suddenly bringing his mate across the Veil. Before he could ask that, he caught a flash of power as his clothes suddenly vanished along with Jensen’s. “Okay, you’ve been waiting how long to do that?”

“The first night we were together you asked if I could use my powers to make our clothes go away,” Jensen reminded him while stepping closer to run the tips of his fingers over hard muscles, down over Jared’s still toned stomach to feel the muscles there jumping. “I never did give you an example of just how I could use my powers,” he licked slowly, teasingly over Jared’s lips. “Wanna see?”

Jared felt his heart beat faster and his mouth got dry, managing a nod and a startled laugh when he landed on the bed with Jensen falling right after him. “Is this considered an odd welcome home or what?” he asked between hot kisses, arching up as Jensen’s knee shifted to rub against his very alert and very active cock.

“Second honeymoon,” Jensen grinned. He’d forgotten what it was like to feel Jared under him and how much he’d missed the sounds his husband could make without being aware of it. “Remember Ireland, Jay?”

“How could I forget?” Jared moaned as he felt Jensen’s fingers roaming over his body while he felt a light warm tingle of power flutter over his ass. “Oh!”

“I have full power and full control so I can please you physically and also keep you distracted in other ways,” Jensen hadn’t ever used his magic like this before but since meeting Jared he had been considering it more. Now as he watched Jared’s eyes sparkle with a power he still needed to learn about he figured this should be an interesting time. “What do you feel, Jared?”

“You,” Jared’s fingers dug into his Jensen’s hips as he straddled him. “I forgot what it was like to have you touch me, Jen,” his hips were torn between wanting to thrust up into the skilled hand that was stroking his hardening cock or pushing back against the power that felt like Jensen’s fingers opening him slowly like his husband always took care to do. “I…I need to feel you inside me soon, Jen. It’s been so damn long.”

Jensen understood those feelings only too well because while time was different between the worlds he knew how long it had been since they’d touched physically…the night before Jensen had left his family to return to honor his duty.

Now a piece of him felt as unsure as he’d been that first night until Jared’s eyes opened to lock on his and their hearts met to beat in sync. The heat in those hazel eyes that seemed to be reflecting the golds and blues more made Jensen’s own leaking cock twitch and he leaned down to catch Jared’s mouth in a heat searing kiss.

The fireplace in the room flared to life as the curtains moved despite the windows being closed while the two men explored their love and passion like they hadn’t been able to in over four decades mortal time.

Jared was burning with need and desire. He was one second away from flipping his eternally too slow husband over to get something going before his body imploded or he came just from the feelings surging over and through him when he felt warm lips caressing his face. “Jen…”

“I want to watch you come this time, Jay,” Jensen’s voice was already tight from holding back, kissing his way down the center of Jared’s chest to spend time on each nipple before moving down to give the exact treatment to his belly button until his mate was squirming and fighting not to laugh since he was ticklish there. “I want to see your face as we come together.”

“Yeah,” Jared thought he managed to mutter, blood heating more as he managed to pull his long legs up more while Jensen leaned over to pull something from the stand beside the bed that smelled of lilacs and his lips curled in a soft smile, remembering Jensen’s shock when he’d insisted they keep using the floral smelling oil for lubrication. “I’ve missed seeing your eyes sparkle when you come like this.”

“My eyes do not sparkle,” Jensen snorted but still smiled because he knew that Jared’s eyes did shine when they both climaxed at the same time.

Between his power and his actual fingers, Jensen felt he’d opened Jared as much as he could right then given that neither of them were very patient by that point. This position wasn’t the easiest but he thanked the Gods that despite his height Jared could bend in some really unique ways.

Jensen slicked his cock with the oil, adjusted Jared a little better to carefully begin easing the head into his husband; groaning low in his throat at the first feeling of tightness wrapping around him. “Fuck,” he mumbled without thought of what he was saying.

“That’s…not very royal sounding, King Jensen,” Jared teased, gasping as Jensen’s hips gave a smooth gentle roll that took him in deeper. He was working on controlling his movements, giving Jensen the time to put himself in fully while the little bit of power was still rubbing along his back, down the curve of his ass since Jensen’s hands were busy molding his fingers around Jared’s cock while his other feathered over his ribs. “Hey…got a question.”

“Now you want to ask me something?” Jensen figured if it were anyone else he would’ve glared but given Jared’s ability to multi-task, as well as talk during sex he just grinned. “What? And can’t it wait?” he asked, pulling out until just the head remained buried in Jared. “Make it fast, Jay.”

Jared bit his lip to keep in what he almost said since he knew Jensen wanted this as much as he did but he couldn’t help his damn curious nature. “What…oh, that feels so good…what do I call you?” he asked, reaching for Jensen and catching the hand not working his cock. “I mean…outside of the bedroom or when we’re alone? What do I have to call you out there?”

“You’ll call me what you always call me. Either Jensen or Jen…though for obvious reasons I think you know that I’d prefer to keep Jen just between us,” Jensen hadn’t considered that Jared might think he’d have to observe some protocol. He’d already had that fight with the council months earlier when he announced that Jared’s mortal time would be coming to an end and he’d be coming to live with Jensen again.

“You’re my husband, Jay. You’re my mate which grants you a lot of leeway in the official protocol side. While others can’t get away with calling me by my name in public much these days you will never have that issue,” he reassured the younger man, holding his eyes while giving his hips a roll forward to take him back in flush and knew that he’d also hit that spot when Jared’s eyes sparked and he stopped speaking English.

Jared’s brain had always thought in the natural language of the faeries but more so during heated arguments or sex as Jensen had learned early on in their relationship when his shy, hut always cheerful new husband had flat out told him off using a few interesting words in their native tongue that made Jensen’s eyebrows raise.

It was the same during sex but usually that was just a constant babble of Jensen’s name and anything else that popped into Jared’s mind while begging for more or to come. Now as Jensen made certain to hit his husband’s sweet spot each time he moved he smiled and listened to the array of words coming out of Jared’s mouth.

He moved so he could pump his hips with speed while still leaning up to kiss Jared’s lips, fingers stroking over his cock faster as he felt how close he was to his own climax; knowing that Jared was even closer.

“Jen…Jen, need to come soon…please,” Jared moaned, hips moving to match each thrust while his hand moved up to touch the matching amulet that Jensen still wore. “I…I need to feel you come inside me and I need you to make me…oh!” he shouted as a calloused fingertip lightly raked over the slit in his fully hard cock and just like that Jared felt the climax hit him.

The years apart, the years since Jared had even felt like this now seemed overwhelming and when he felt his balls tighten a second before that touch on his cock came he lost it. He thought he might’ve screamed his lover’s name but then there was just the feeling of Jensen’s lips kissing him hotly along with the feel of hot come filling him as Jensen moaned into the kiss as his own climax hit him and he came inside his husband.

Jensen had told himself he’d hold back so he could watch Jared enjoy this moment but just the sight of the blissful smile, big eyes sparking with lust and power and the litany of words pouring off of Jared’s tongue as white strips of come shot over his hand and stomach as Jared’s body moved in time with his own while he milked his cock to help work him through his orgasm had Jensen feeling his balls tightening and he came before he could think to try to stall it.

“Gods, Jay,” he groaned tightly, fighting to slow his thrusts to draw out the moment but knew they were both too far gone for that and just let it come while sharing hot kisses and using his free hand to touch Jared where he knew he was sensitive. “I’ve missed you so damn much. I will make sure you never regret the choice to be with me.”

Jared’s brain was mush so he couldn’t respond to that with more than a moan, fingers wrapping around Jensen’s neck to pull him down closer so he could return the kisses and mumble words of love with promises and babble mixed in.

He watched Jensen’s eyes flash with love and power, heard the light sounds of music that he always did when it seemed they climaxed together. Jared loved watching his husband during this time because Jensen’s face was open, free of worry or responsibility.

When they made love it was just them and all Jensen focused on was Jared so that was where his eyes and thoughts were always locked on and Jared loved that. He loved seeing him now after so many years still looking like he had before they lost each other.

Jensen felt Jared’s heart match his, opening his eyes to see deep hazel, darkened with desire, watching him. The years together had taught Jensen when Jared was getting over sensitized so he gave the softening cock another few gentle strokes before easing his hand away to lean down.

“Love you,” he whispered before offering a slow, loving kiss while letting his own orgasm run its course as he and Jared shared kisses and gentle touches. “Always.”

“Forever,” Jared returned, lashes wet from long buried emotions and the sudden realization that he was finally back where he needed to be and with the man he loved. “Stay?”

“Didn’t I always stay after we made love, my heart?” Jensen kissed the corner of Jared’s mouth as he pulled out gently wave a hand to bring him a wet cloth to clean them with before settling beside him on the bed; drawing Jared closer into his arms to hold him. “Sleep now. When you wake up, we’ll get you settled and I’ll show you around this place. I told Chris not to bring your pets by until tomorrow.”

“Hmm,” Jared murmured sleepily when his eyes opened, lifting his head from where it laid over Jensen’s heart. “I have pets?” he asked, confused until the small curving smile had him realizing what his mate was saying. “You…kept them? They’re still alive?”

Jensen nodded, carding his fingers back to push soft dark hair out of heavy eyes. “My sister kept one but when I came back the other two kept finding their way to me and looking for you since your scent was on me so I kept them. They’re bigger now and had a few litters of pups but they knew you were coming like I knew it was time,” he smiled. “I also thought it would make you happy to see them. I know that no matter how many dogs you rescued over the years that you still worried about the Warble pups.”

“I love you so much!” Jared’s dimpled came out in full force as his arms wrapped around Jensen tightly. “Thank you and your family for keeping the pups and…what about their pack? Did your father free them and are they safe? Do people still hunt them out of fear or…mmhm.”

Jensen’s lips settling over his stopped his sudden ramble of words, playing hide and seek with Jared’s tongue until he felt him relax into his arms again. “Yes, father freed those that my brother and his friends had caged to use as sport,” he answered quietly, kissing his worried mate after each reply. “Yes, the Warbles are safe and while it took the people time to understand the threat was over for the most part they are safe from hunters,” he teased Jared’s bottom lip with his own, hearing a low sigh of pleasure. “When I took the throne I made it illegal to hunt them for any reason or to abuse them.”

“Thank you,” Jared smiled fully, kissing Jensen again before settling back against his side; head over his husband’s beating heart. “Jen?”

“Yeah?” Jensen kept his fingers light while brushing through Jared’s hair, settling his other over his heart before slowly moving it down to touch his stomach as if teasing his fingers over the muscles there but was actually feeling for something he thought he’d just sensed.

Jared’s body and mind were calming down so it was hard to stay awake but he was curious. “So this change in age thing…what else has been changed?” he asked through a yawn, trying to make his question clearer when he didn’t get an immediate response. “I mean, I’m young again so does that also mean I can…Jen? What is it?” he felt his hand be moved down to feel his stomach. “Jensen?”

“Wait a second and let yourself feel,” Jensen whispered against his ear, stunned at this because he hadn’t been sure if Jared would conceive again here much less on their first time together again. “Listen for it like I showed you before and you’ll feel him.”

“What? You can…I’m…” Jared was no longer sleepy as he pressed his palm tighter to his flat hard stomach. He was just about to call Jensen’s bluff when he felt his breath catch at the flutter. “Oh my God.”

Jensen pushed himself up to nudge Jared to his back and leaned over him with a slow smile, kissing him softly before beginning to kiss down his body until he got to his stomach to press light kisses over and around where Jared’s hand still laid.

“You’ll give the people an heir to the throne with our son but more importantly you’ll have more children to raise and love,” he lifted his head to allow the tears of happiness to show in his eyes. “We will never forget Josh and the girls but I know you were going to ask if this change in age meant you could carry a child again and I guess we know the answer now. I love you so much, Jay. I love you and I will love our children. Only this time I will be with you to raise them.”

Jared met his kiss eagerly and slowly fell to sleep with his one hand over his stomach and his other touching Jensen’s hair as his husband stayed with his head over where he could feel or hear the very new life of their next child.

** 10 months later: **

“And you’re sure those monster mutts won’t eat the Kingdom’s new Prince and one day heir to the throne?” Chris Kane asked from where he leaned against a counter in the kitchen of the cabin. “They’re pretty territorial with the Royal Consort.”

Despite being King and the tradition to live in the Royal manor in the center of the Valley’s biggest town, Jensen and Jared spent most of their time at the cabin unless matters of state needed to be handled or they had to stay in the manor where Jensen’s sisters lived with their families.

“They only growled at that one council member and that was only because he was plainly rude and out of line questioning Jared’s decision to have the baby here and not in the capital,” Jensen returned easily, eyeing the larger of the Warbles who was sitting watching him prepare a bottle as if judging him. “I feel better knowing Jay and Tristan are protected if you aren’t around; especially since Jared’s not fully back on his feet.”

Jared found that crossing the Veil to the Valley strengthened his faerie side which meant while their other children had been more mortal than faerie, this child and any others would be more full-blooded faerie. It also meant carrying took more of a toll than any of his three previous children had.

It had scared both men when the morning sickness didn’t pass but the kindly mid-wife had said it was natural and their next child should be easier. Of which Jared let out a low growl about never allowing Jensen to touch him for five years.

Of course both Jared’s arrival and the news of a royal baby had spread rapidly and there had been many visitors to the royal manor to meet or inspect as one of Jensen’s sisters had said the Royal Consort.

Jared had been kind, shy, polite and gracious through most of it. Of course it amused Jensen the first time his mate stood up for himself in front of the Council who’d been planning baby names and the unborn child’s life as well as what was expected of Jared during all of this.

“He’s our baby. Mine and Jensen’s, not yours, not the people of the Valley so we’ll raise him and our other children as we see fit and no talk of nannies cause no one touches my baby but me, my husband or that guy Jensen swears is his friend…or his sisters,” Jared had flat out stated to the stunned room before rolling his eyes and walking out with the Warbles following closely behind.

That had caused a mild uproar as no one had ever deemed to speak to the Council in such a manner since Jensen’s own grandmother had told them off for something similar. Jensen had merely smirked and said he was making that the new law and wouldn’t hear another word about it.

When the day came for the baby’s birth, Jensen had been caught off guard because their son proved to be as unpredictable as Jared’s mood swings had been and came a week early. Thankfully the mid-wife who Jensen swore had probably delivered every baby in the Valley had been able to come after a frantic call from the King had everyone scurrying.

It had been a hard birth but after nearly 22 hours Tristan Joshua Padalecki-Ackles came into the world healthy and screaming. It took Jensen two days to work up the guts to tell his mate one of the small little side effects to having a full faerie baby…right before Tristan grew his first set of glittery and highly translucent wings.

Jensen was fairly certain he had bruises on his chest for days from Jared’s fists the first time their son managed to flutter out of his bassinet.

“ _Jen_ sen!” Jared’s voice shouted from the second floor where he’d been trying to get the baby down, literally, for his afternoon nap. “Get that bottle up here and get your son down from the ceiling before he hurts himself!”

“Have you told him that most faerie young don’t lose the wings until their second cycle?” Chris asked with an amused cough. “Or that depending on his power he might set his crib on fire?”

Shooting his friend a sour look Jensen headed for the steps. “I value my life a little too much to tell him that yet, thank you,” he snorted and hurried to the master bedroom to see his dark haired green eyed one month old son had come down himself and was cuddled in safely in Jared’s arms on the bed. “Can I say you’re gorgeous without getting a pillow thrown at me?”

“You can if you tell me I’m not a horrible parent for being scared to death,” Jared took the bottle since the mid-wife had said Jared’s body would be ready by the next child to breastfeed but for Tristan it would have to be bottled formula. “He’s so tiny and yet so damn fast when he wants to be and I don’t want to make you look bad if your mate can’t even figure out a baby with wings.”

“You’re doing fine, Jay,” Jensen sat beside him to allow Jared to curl up in his arms with the baby while the Warbles and their pups laid around the room. “I should’ve warned you about the difference between our young and what Kaci, Bree and Josh had been like. You’re a wonderful parent and we will raise beautiful babies and…those wings will fall off by the time he’s two.”

Jared looked alarmed at that but Jensen soothed both husband and child with a soft lullaby until he was certain both were asleep for the moment.

“I will love and protect you and our children forever, Jared,” Jensen whispered before letting his own eyes drift closed since he knew Chris was downstairs to make certain no one came close. As he drifted off, Jensen let himself think of the life they’d led and the one they would live now. “Always and forever, Jay,” he told his sleeping mate and knew that no matter what the future brought it would always be them together forever.

**The End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Thank you all for your extreme patience in waiting for these final two chapters and yes, eventually I will probably add a timestamp to this one, lol.


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